How to tame meeting overload

There aren't many things we can universally agree on. I would say though that we all love puppies, pizza and crawling into bed after an exhausting day. On the other hand, there are a lot of things we despise, like people not using their turn signals, humidity, or Kid Rock.

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But is there anything we hate more than too many meetings?

Too many meetings can be stressful, tiring, and negatively affect both productivity and quality. Employees will disconnect, become demotivated, and waste valuable time if they attend too often. So it's no surprise that 83% of meetings on managers' calendars are unproductive, according to a survey. Additionally, meetings have been rated as "the number one office productivity killer" by US-based professionals.

Furthermore, having fewer meetings has been found to have many benefits.

"In the 76 companies we surveyed, we found that employee productivity was 71% higher when meetings were reduced by 40%," write Ben Laker, Vijay Pereira, Ashish Malik, and Lebene Soga for < em>HBR. "It's largely because employees felt more empowered and empowered." Since taking ownership of their personal to-do lists and holding themselves accountable, their satisfaction has increased by 52%.

Furthermore, by eliminating 60% of meetings, cooperation increased by 55%. Using project management tools like Slack or Teams to facilitate communications, workers were able to connect one-on-one at their own pace. As a result, stress was reduced by 57%, which improved the overall well-being of employees.

Additionally, when meetings decreased by 80%, employees perceived they were micromanaged 74% less. As a result, employees felt valued, trusted, and more engaged (44%) and worked harder for their company.

How to tame meeting overload? Well, here are 10 strategies to try.

1. Declare "Civil Bankruptcy"

Are you familiar with "Email Bankruptcy?" When you can no longer manage your overflowing inbox, just delete everything and wait to see what issues arise and who will contact you next. Despite its brutality, it's the best way to get a fresh start by getting rid of most of your unread messages.

Applying the concept of bankruptcy to social media as well, Cal Newport calls it a "digital detox." Using his blog, he suggested quitting all platforms for a month to not only see how you feel – science suggests you'll feel better. But also what you lack in terms of using social networks.

In their new book, How the Future Works, three Slack executives sponsored Future Forum to come up with a similar idea. What if you went bankrupt for a meeting, like you would for email or social media?

What is a "civil bankruptcy"?

"At Slack, our leaders have led by example by declaring 'civil bankruptcy.' add only what was really necessary,” write Brian Elliott, Sheela Subramanian and Helen Kupp.

The goal is not to completely eliminate meetings. Instead, declaring a meeting bankrupt aims to force you to actively justify every meeting you add to your calendar by taking them off autopilot.

It is suggested, how...