According to the ‘Work Trend Index: Annual Report’ by Microsoft, productivity is being hampered primarily due to inefficient meetings.
When asked to rank various factors that could be hindering productivity, most employees put ‘inefficient meetings’ in the number one position. Lack of clear goals was in second position, followed by ‘too many meetings’ in third position. ‘Feeling uninspired’ came fourth, while in fifth position was the remark that inability to easily find the required information was an obstacle to productivity.
About 58 per cent of the respondents felt it was not easy to have successful brainstorming sessions in a virtual meeting. Fifty-seven per cent felt that it was difficult to catch up if one joined a meeting late. In fact, 55 per cent felt there was lack of clarity in the consequent steps on conclusion of the meeting, due to this issue. Summarising of the meeting was challenging for 56 per cent of the respondents.
Since February 2020, people are participating in three times more Teams meetings and calls per week (192 per cent)
Interestingly, about 35 per cent people or say one in three people feel they would be missed in most of the meetings. Yet, people do fear missing out on something if they do not attend. Most employees attend these meetings in the hope of bettering their own work. Others feel being able to give feedback, or make decisions, or advance their career motivates them to attend meetings.
The Work Trend Index report suggests considering meetings as a digital artifact and not just a point in time. People need to be encouraged to gain from AI-powered intelligent meeting recaps, transcripts, and recordings to engage with meetings.
