Redefining Meeting Culture: Boost Productivity in High Growth Companies

"Culture is not an initiative. Culture is the enabler of all initiatives."

Larry Senn

If culture is defined as the shared attitudes, values, goals, and practises within an organization or institution, how would you define yours?

How would your team describe the culture at your organization?  

Meetings have to be a part of that discussion. After all, most of us spend a lot of time in meetings, yet few businesses recognize how influential meeting culture is to overall company performance.

A recent Fellow report revealed the following:

• $375B per year lost to unproductive meetings, in the US alone
• $25k wasted per year per employee, in effective or unnecessary meetings  
• 12% of non-manager employees spend 15 hours per week in meetings (a 25% increase from 2019)

Addressing meeting culture in your organization makes good business sense. The obvious financial implications aside, there are also benefits related to employee morale, satisfaction, and performance.

Balancing growth and efficiency can be a challenge for any organization, but scheduling more meetings is not the solution. Meetings can be a key driver of successful change if they are executed well. This article explains how to foster a productive meeting culture, essential factors for success, and strategies effective leaders can use to maximize results.  

Components of an Effective Meeting Culture

There are 11 ways leaders can optimize meeting culture to promote team productivity and achieve results.  

1. Minimize opportunity costs of poorly run meetings
2. Happy employees product results
3. Link to business outcomes
4. Respect schedules
5. Promote active participation
6. Lead by example
7. End meetings with clear accountability
8. Create effective agendas
9. Leverage technology for engagement
10. Avoid hybrid meetings
11. Recognize the reality of video-conference fatigue

11 Proven Strategies to Cultivate an Effective Meeting Culture

1. Minimize Opportunity Costs of Poorly Run Meetings  

We’ve all participated in meetings that were a waste of time and energy, yet they continue. The overall cost of wasted time adds up when you consider ‘opportunity costs’ of poorly run meetings - the value of work that was missed due to time spent in useless meetings.  

As leaders, we should perform a quick cost-benefit analysis before sending any meeting invite. Ask yourself, “Is my team’s time better spent on current projects rather than in the meeting?”

If the answer is yes, hold off on sending the invite or only include those directly involved in the business outcome being discussed. To keep others informed, distribute the meeting summary to them after the meeting, and invite follow-up questions, should they have any.

2. Happy Employees Produce Results  

Employees want their time to be valued and their managers to respect their work-life balance. If your direct reports attend meetings where they feel their time is wasted or perceive they are not contributing meaningfully to organizational priorities those are red flags.  

Leverage one on one meetings to identify these issues, and use them to maintain ongoing communication, build trust, and help team members feel empowered and valued.  

3. Link to Business Outcomes

Effective meetings drive business outcomes. Leaders who link meeting goals to business objectives are more likely to foster productive participation and achieve results. Always communicate the intent of a meeting so participants understand what is expected.  

And don’t use meetings for one-way communication such as sharing status updates – those can be done by email. Reserve meeting time for active collaboration, discussion, and problem-solving.

4. Respect Schedules

As a manager, once a meeting is deemed necessary and scheduled, avoid last-minute changes and cancellations. Respecting your direct reports’ time helps them feel valued and can go a long way in promoting respect and trust, which is essential for positive team dynamics.

Maintaining schedules also allows for planning and preparation: business leaders tell us that having time to plan and prepare for meetings is the key determinant of meeting success. Automating these tasks can help but only if you have a solid understanding of your company’s meeting activity – more on that later.

5. Promote Active Participation

Not everyone is comfortable speaking in a group setting. Your team likely consists of a mix of personalities and communication preferences. Leaders can encourage and promote diverse perspectives by creating safe environments for discussion. This means that team members know they can ask questions and provide input without fear of judgment or negative consequences.

Encouraging multiple perspectives promotes creativity and out-of-the-box thinking – invaluable for problem solving and innovation.

6. Lead by Example

Business leaders should model the behaviour they want to see from their team.

Don’t be the ‘do as I say and not as I do’ manager. Your team will quickly notice the inconsistency and start to question your credibility as a manager.

Model the type and level of engagement and participation you expect from your direct reports - avoid side conversations, multi-tasking, and phone distractions. Whether you are hosting or participating, be fully present during a meeting and display the behaviours you expect to see from your team. If all participants are focused, you are more likely to achieve the outcome or goal set for the meeting.

7. End Meetings with Clear Accountability

Achieving results means keeping business outcomes top of mind. Leaders who frame meetings around clear goals, identify action items and assign follow-up responsibility, ensure that business priorities are maintained, and accountability is transparent. This promotes efficiency by ensuring that team members understand objectives and their role in achieving success.

8. Create Effective Agendas

Having a meeting agenda is fantastic - be sure to adhere to it. Consider circulating agendas and gathering feedback in advance of a meeting to promote engagement and set expectations.

If during the meeting, you see tangent conversations occur, guide the discussion back to the issue, problem, or question that the meeting was called for. As leaders, it’s your job to keep meetings focused and facilitate participation among everyone there.

9. Leverage Technology for Engagement

There are a variety of technology tools leaders can leverage to foster meeting engagement. For example, distribute pre-reading material to level set expectations and help attendees prepare, reserving more time for discussion and collaboration during the actual meeting.  

If meetings are held virtually, enable chat functionality so participants can ask questions, share reactions, and comment without disrupting meeting flow.  

For team members not comfortable speaking in a group setting, provide collaborative options by using tools such as Miro or Google docs, enabling them to contribute privately.  

10. Avoid Hybrid Meetings  

Although popular, hybrid meetings are not ideal. Practically speaking, it is very difficult to pay equal attention to online participants when you also have live attendees in a room.  

If possible, leaders should deploy an all or nothing approach – all in-person or all remote but never a combination of the two. This ensures that all participants are ‘present’ equally and have the same opportunities to engage and interact with each other.

11. Recognize the Reality of Video-conference Fatigue

With the surge of remote meetings, leaders who accept the reality of video-conferencing fatigue are ahead of the game. Research shows that there are associated symptoms and risks associated with prolonged and repetitive online meetings but you can protect your team:

• Schedule a balance of online and in-person meetings.
• If your team is fully remote, bring your team together periodically to strengthen relationships and build connections.
• Integrate collaborative technology to allow team members to work asynchronously, share updates, and provide input/feedback on their own time.

Meetings can significantly impact overall business productivity. Contact Kairos for more insight into your company’s specific meeting culture. Our integrated platform gathers real-time data from your meetings, generates actionable insights, and provides specific guidance and evidence-based strategies to accelerate business momentum and achieve results.