[Infographic] Staff Meeting Stats: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Whether the attendees include an intact team, a single department, or an entire company, staff meetings are a chance for information to be exchanged, relationships to be built, and progress to be made. However, not all staff meetings are truly effective. In the following infographic, you'll find statistics which highlight what's working and what's not in today's staff meetings.

bad behaviors undermine staff meetings

Bad or dysfunctional behavior in staff meetings isn't just annoying; According to The University of Amsterdam, these types of behaviors actually cause lower levels of innovation, employment stability, and market share. The behaviors which are the most frowned upon by attendees include:

• People who take phone calls or text (55%)
• People who interrupt others (50%)
• People who show up late or leave early (49%)
• People who don’t listen/aren’t respectful of others (49%)
• People who dominate the conversation (46%)

hours are Wasted in ineffective staff meetings

Ideally, every staff meeting would engage attendees, open the lines of communication, deliver transparency, encourage collaboration, inspire connection, and strengthen team culture. Unfortunately, though, that's not the case. According to research, far too many staff meetings lack purpose and/or planning and therefore become "a waste of time" in the eyes of attendees.

• 3 hours are reportedly lost in time and productivity as a result of meetings starting late.
• 2-5 hours are wasted per week in meetings that don’t accomplish anything.
• In meetings that feel like a "waste of time," attendees admit to daydreaming, working on other things, and sleeping.

staff meetings cost individuals, leaders, and companies

There is always an opportunity cost of removing people from their work to attend a staff meeting. The question for leaders is: Is it worth it? To help you decide if your staff meeting is, in fact, worth it, consider the following statistics which highlight the cost of staff meetings.

• Meetings cost companies $43,008-$56,448 USD per manager every year. It brings new importance to the question, “Is this meeting absolutely necessary?"
• In one study, 64% of senior managers said that meetings come at the expense of deep thinking.
• On top of the financial cost, employees report that ineffective staff meetings leave them with not enough time to do their work (44%), confusion due to unclear actions (43%), lost focus on projects (38%), slow progress (31%), and weakened relationships (26%). 

effective staff meetings demand intentionality & Planning

Good news! If you host an all-staff meeting then you are in the unique position to make your meetings the kind you always wanted to attend as an employee. In other words, the kind of staff meeting which energizes employees, leaves them feeling connected to their peers, and gives them confidence in what their next steps should be. To do so, employees report that leaders need to:

• Share an agenda (35%)
• Stay focused and shut down tangents (25%)
• Be well prepared (18%)
• Schedule shorter meetings (16%)
• Provide perks, such as free lunch (5%)

Need the inspiration to make this happen? According to HBR, when leaders invest a good deal of intentionality and planning in their staff meetings, the following have been known to improve:

• Collaboration among employees
• Psychological safety to speak up and express opinions
• Team performance
• Satisfaction with work-life balance