In the corporate world, a majority of employees regret that meetings are too numerous, too long and insufficiently effective. Despite these criticisms, the problem persists. To find possible solutions to this thorny issue, a team of academics studied 76 companies with over 1,000 employees who had banned meetings for 1 to 5 days a week.

Their findings invite a thorough reconsideration of our work habits: the more the number of meetings diminishes, the more we observe an increase in autonomy, communication, engagement and satisfaction. The tendency toward micro-management decreases, as do stress levels. Productivity improves. Paradoxically, reducing the number of meetings even has a positive effect on collaboration! According to the indicators used by the researchers to assess the level of cooperation, it increased by 55% with the 3 days without meetings formula. The employees found other ways of coordinating and exchanging ideas, better suited to their needs.

Does this mean that meetings should be abolished altogether? Let us not go too far. Beyond 3 weekly days without a meeting, satisfaction, productivity, engagement and cooperation begin to decline. Up to you to find the right balance!

Source: The Surprising Impact of Meeting-Free Days, Benjamin Laker, Vijay Pereira, Pawan Budhwar, Ashish Malik, MIT Sloan Management Review, January 2022.