Cut the number of meetings, and don't hold a meeting for anything that can be settled in writing, asynchronously

Cost

Free. It needs your colleagues and your boss to go along. The hard part is that writing something out clearly takes more effort than saying it out loud.

What you get

Two surveys covered employees working more than 35 hours a week, with 676 people and 304 people. How much of the working time goes to meetings does not have a fixed effect on work attitudes and well-being. It depends on two things: how good the meetings are, and how much the job depends on other people. Another study had people keep a diary for a week in a row, and found that the more meetings someone had that day, the higher their fatigue and the workload they felt. The time saved equals the length of the meetings you cut.

Notes

Disputed: Rogelberg 2006 found that the link between the number of meetings and well-being does not point one way. In jobs that depend heavily on other people, many meetings are not necessarily a bad thing. Also, no study has directly compared switching to asynchronous written communication against meeting, so this item is the author's own inference.

Evidence grade

B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.

Sources

1. Rogelberg, S. G., Leach, D. J., Warr, P. B., & Burnfield, J. L. (2006). "Not another meeting!" Are meeting time demands related to employee well-being? Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(1). https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.1.83
2. Luong, A., & Rogelberg, S. G. (2005). Meetings and more meetings: The relationship between meeting load and the daily well-being of employees. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2699.9.1.58

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 4, tip 6. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer