Do you ever have the feeling that you are running from one meeting to another? And that the time you actually spent in meetings is not even used effectively? Idle chats on the weather, your colleague’s cat or on the topic of the meeting you had right before the one you’re in now. The tech is not working properly, there’s the endless waiting for IT assistance. A colleague who’s running late, having sandwiches in a meeting, going off topic... It’s not just an impression; it’s the harsh reality in many enterprises.

Barco and Circle Research surveyed over 3000 white-collar workers in Europe, the Pacific, the US, China and India about the relevance of meetings and on how businesses can actually reclaim the usefulness of meetings today.

Precious time wasted

An average meeting takes about 48 minutes. According to our research we know that only 44% of the time spent in the meeting room is worthwhile. 30% or about 14 minutes is actually used to really focus and work towards the pre-set meeting objectives. And the other 14% or 7 minutes is agreeing on next steps and looking ahead, because almost 86% of respondents believe ‘discussing next steps’ is also a crucial part of a meeting.

Most of the time in a meeting room is wasted on

Time for a change! Reduce your meeting time and improve your efficiency

Our regular meeting takes 48 minutes, but if we manage to stop the late-comers, tech issues and unnecessary chatter, we could gain on efficiency and reach outcomes much quicker. So we’re left with 21 minutes of utter focus. A 21-minute meeting is just about perfect: that is what we should be aiming for. 

But how do you make sure to stick to those 21 minutes? Download our Ultimate guide to the perfect meeting, the must-have checklist to reduce meeting time.