Meeting Time

A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of group decision making. Sound good? Well, maybe.

A Harvard study in 2016 found that the levels of CO2 in a crowded meeting room can reduce higher-level cognitive function (used in complex decision-making) by 50 per cent; a 2019 study warned that chronic exposure to elevated CO2 could carry long-term health risks. Okay, so maybe not always good. But surely meetings in general are a good thing?

Aren't meetings supposed to improve productivity, efficiency, teamwork, communication and collaboration? If done correctly, yes! Most scheduled meetings have three problems though: there is no clearly defined goal, the meetings slot is too long and there are too many people attending the meeting. So the next time you schedule a meeting, consider what topic you want to discuss. Define a clear agenda and keep the attendee list as short as possible - only invite those that can really distribute to the topic. And last but not least: keep it brief. Maybe try just scheduling 30 minutes. If it is really necessary, it is always possible to find a few more minutes. Simple as that!