Psychological studies confirm what we all know: Long meetings are a waste of time
Psychological studies point out one more reason why long meetings are no fun and get less done:
Imagine, for a moment, that you are facing a very difficult decision about which of two job offers to accept. One position offers good pay and job security, but is pretty mundane, whereas the other job is really interesting and offers reasonable pay, but has questionable job security.
Clearly you can go about resolving this dilemma in many ways. Few people, however, would say that your decision should be affected or influenced by whether or not you resisted the urge to eat cookies prior to contemplating the job offers.
A decade of psychology research suggests otherwise. Unrelated activities that tax the executive function have important lingering effects, and may disrupt your ability to make such an important decision. In other words, you might choose the wrong job because you didn’t eat a cookie.
Research by University of Minnesota psychologist Kathleen Vohs and colleagues indicates that we have a limited amount of what they call executive resources. Once they start to get depleted, we make bad choices.
And how do you consume your executive resources? In three ways. You use them every time you:
- Exercise commitment (as in not eating that cookie you really wanted because you’re on a diet)
- Focus your attention (as in listening to someone speaking, though you’d rather check email on your Blackberry)
- Make a decision (as in choosing which of two possible projects to approve)
A-HA!!!!!
Business meetings require participants to commit, focus and make decisions - with no acknowledgment of the fact that in doing so they’re consuming a finite resource. Once this resource runs out, people make worse decisions!!!
Suddenly those three-hour project meetings aren’t looking so smart, are they? Not that they ever really did, but you know what I mean.
The article left me with a few questions:
- How do we recharge our executive resources?
- Can we increase our executive resources over time by exercising them? The way physical exercise makes you tired right now but increases your fitness over time.
- How quickly can they be recharged? Once they’re gone, are they gone for the day? The week? Or can they be recharged in time for the next meeting?
If you know the answer to any of these questions, I’d love to hear it!
Your take
What do you think? Have you noticed this kind of thing in meetings? What do you think is the cut-off point beyond which meetings just devolve into pointlessness and no good decisions can be made? An hour? Two? 15 minutes?
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Salv Reina Said,
July 25, 2008 @ 2:43 pm
This is a good topic. I work in an org where meetings dominate our schedules heavily. I’m not anti-meeting as, run properly, they are a very effective means of collaboration. But too many meetings without careful consideration as to their purpose, the process by which they are run and the desired outcomes, can quickly yield the levels of frustration often seen with e-mail (incidentally, another major area which needs a strategic approach).
It’s not the timing. I’ve been in 2 hour meetings that are excellent, informative and yield good decisions. I’ve also been in 60 minute meetings that do the opposite. The worst was probably an all day one in a windowless room in a hotel in the US which, for some bizarre reason had carpets on the walls, and where we were subjected to a slow death by slideshow.
So, plan the meeting like you might plan a dinner party, a date or an outing. Time is precious, people are busy so make it worth their while. Make sure you know what you want from the people there. Make sure you know why you are there if you are the invitee. And don’t say yes to every meeting invitation.
Harley Jones Said,
July 25, 2008 @ 3:29 pm
My wife’s staying home this year to be with the kids, and I think her executive resources are getting depleted very quickly. I think the experience is very much like a day-long meeting which is repeated every day, and no noticable progress is being made.
I’d love to hear suggestions on recharging her fuel cells.
Personally, I work in an IT department near some train-tracks. With I’m worn from work, I take a walk on the tracks. That seems to do the trick for me (outside, large industrial machinery, plants, and wind).
David Leonhardt Said,
July 25, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
I used to think long meetings were a waste of time. Then I had a conversion of sorts, and now I no longer worry about long meetings. I became self-employed and rarely have to go to meetings anymore.
Sadly, long meetings are a natural part of any work environment, simply because the more players there are the less efficient a group will be. However, there are some creative tactics to keep meetings short. One of my favorites is to not purchase chairs for the meeting room. Not only does this save you money purchasing furniture - and make the cleaning staff’s job easier - but it is guaranteed to shorten meetings to t length they actually need to be.
David Leonhardt
Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. Said,
July 25, 2008 @ 11:42 pm
I don’t believe long meetings are a natural part of the work environment. I do believe David’s no-chair suggestion would shorten meetings considerably, it shouldn’t be necessary.
Now that we have email, much of what is discussed can be covered ahead of a meeting and reserve the meeting just for things that require discussion and about which action will be taken. I recently retired from college teaching after 20 years. There were some issues that were recycled year after year and very little progress was made toward resolving them.
As I neared the end of my career, I elected to skip division meetings that were held on the day I didn’t have classes and therefore I wasn’t on campus even though I was docked two hours pay for missing them. (Yes, the dean expected me to travel to campus just for these meetings.) Missing them was worth the loss in pay.
Carlie Said,
July 26, 2008 @ 2:09 am
I’ve read something in New Scientist a while ago about first decisions being correct - I’ve didn’t get too much info on how they tested this, but the mains reasoning leads you to second guess and fuck up your life.
Ron Meledandri - Sentra Business Solutions Said,
July 28, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
In the 14 years prior to 1983 when I became self-employed, I worked for a major corporation and was involved in many long meetings. Most were too long for two reasons. First, there was no set agenda with a time allowed for each item. Second, the person running the meeting often lost control and allowed other topics to be discussed. Meetings are important but need to be controlled.
By the way, I first heard of the “no chair” policy in Robert Townsend’s book “Up the Organization.” It was a book that I think was ahead of its time. I think the idea has some merit.
Right Wing Nation » Blog Archive » Headline Of The Decade Said,
July 28, 2008 @ 10:21 pm
[...] Psychological studies confirm what we all know: Long meetings are a waste of time [...]
Tom Said,
July 29, 2008 @ 1:23 am
I am wondering whether there is a renewed need for people to think about how we spend our time given the new demands in the workplace and personal life. We have just published a first article covering this subject at http://www.whakate.com/lead-articles/how-to-become-more-time-conscious/
Scot Herrick Said,
July 29, 2008 @ 7:42 pm
The only way I know to recharge the executive resources is to leave the environment, remove the distractions, and do something physical. Most of the executive resournces are lost using our brains; doing physical tasks such as yard work, helps restore some balance.
But, it is tough to do something like that after a two-hour long meeting…when the next meeting and the next meeting and the next meeting are right after that first one. It’s a killer.
I’m interested in hearing about recharging; it’s a critical skill to achieve.
Terrence Seamon Said,
July 30, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
Great post. I have suffered through overly long meetings that sap the life out of people.
The good news is, there is a solution to terrible meetings!
http://www.amanet.org/seminars/seminar.cfm?baseSemNo=2816
Terry
Kristian Said,
July 31, 2008 @ 6:28 am
I have to not agree with the way these studies are being interpreted: A certain type of long meetings are a waste of time, and some are not.
Because what is a meeting if it not simply people who stick their heads together and work? And is the most efficient working culture necessarily one in which people sit at each their table and crunch code?
Of course not, and everybody needs meetings, because when you talk job on the job, is that not a meeting?
In the department I am heading, we use meetings extensively to share knowledge and borrow each others’ brain power, and I can not see that we could be anywhere as efficient without them.
My company will never do it, but I have repeatedly suggested that we redesign the offices to have fewer workstations than employees, so that we change the perception that in order to create results, you must sit alone in front of a PC.
Mark McClure / Career Change Said,
August 14, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Most corp meetings are a waste of time (in my experience) without:
a- a published agenda sent out a day or 2 beforehand.
b- a chairperson who will run the meeting.
c- someone to take minutes
d- a set start and finish time.
If most of the consensus building and arguments were thrashed out via 1-1 calls, email and the odd water-cooler gathering, then the formal meetings were usually a doddle.
I love the no-chair suggestion.
Sitting zazen style might be another fine approach worth trying.