Arbeitszeit: Teuer und ineffizient? So viel hat Ihr letztes Meeting gekostet

German businesses lose approximately 64 billion euros per year to inefficient meetings, according to Doodle's 2019 "State of Meetings Report." When adjusted for inflation, this figure rises to around 80 billion euros, as calculated by the Handelsblatt. A new calculator from the Handelsblatt allows users to estimate the cost of meetings, including a rough estimation of meeting inefficiency.

A key factor in determining meeting inefficiency is the number of attendees. Research by Microsoft scientists, conducted using online meetings, reveals that the perceived inclusiveness and efficiency of meetings are strongly correlated. Consequently, the Handelsblatt simplified the study's findings by equating individual perceived inclusiveness with meeting efficiency.

As a result, meetings with two or three participants are considered highly inclusive, with over 90% of respondents rating them as such. However, meetings with six or more participants see a drop in perceived inclusiveness to 67%, and only one-third of participants feel included and perceive the meeting as efficient when there are more than 15 attendees.

Lev Tankelevitch, one of the study's authors, emphasizes that fewer people do not necessarily equate to a better meeting, but for every participant, it should be clear why they are attending. Smaller meetings provide clearer reasons for participation, leading to higher satisfaction. Moreover, smaller meetings offer a higher chance of individual involvement, contributing to a greater perceived efficiency.

Some companies have implemented strict rules regarding meeting sizes. Amazon's Jeff Bezos mandates that no more than eight people should attend a meeting, equivalent to the number of people that can be seated with two pizzas. Similarly, Bayer follows a similar approach. Nisha Mahendrarajan, from Bayer's core team for meeting culture, stresses another crucial principle: "If you cannot contribute to or gain anything from a meeting, you are entitled to leave it early."

Many employees were surprised to learn that by reducing weekly meeting time by one hour, the company could save 124 million euros. This significant cost-saving potential underscores the importance of efficient meetings. Apart from the number of attendees, other factors impacting meeting efficiency include having an agenda, starting and ending the meeting punctually.

Microsoft and Bayer have aligned their meeting guidelines with these insights and are disseminating similar catalogs across their organizations. However, the meeting calculator cannot definitively calculate the true cost of office exchanges; instead, it aims to provide a scientifically grounded perspective: Do we really need this meeting, or could an email have sufficed? The German economy has yet to witness such a reduction in managers as mass professionals.