Science says your boss should talk less in meetings

Every day, approximately one billion meetings occur worldwide. Corporate executives dedicate nearly three-quarters of their work hours to attending meetings. The majority of a manager's time is consumed by organizing and leading these gatherings. In many developed nations, meetings serve as both the rhythm and the hindrances of people's professional lives.

Considering the substantial time invested in workplace meetings, it is crucial to understand their purpose and how to maximize their effectiveness. For centuries, the answer remained elusive; meetings were not a widely researched topic. However, that has begun to change. "Meeting science" has emerged as a burgeoning field within organizational and social psychology.

This area is expanding rapidly due to the abundance of data available from archived virtual meetings. Furthermore, it offers a unique perspective on human behavior. The primary function of meetings is to satisfy fundamental human needs for connection, communication, and cooperation. Throughout history, people have gathered in various settings—caves, fields, marketplaces, and town squares—to accomplish tasks, exchange ideas, align their perspectives, or simply comment on the weather.

Nonetheless, meeting scientists define their domain as gatherings of individuals with a defined objective or structure for the event, according to Liana Kreamer, an organizational psychologist at the Florida Institute of Technology. She coauthored a review of over three decades of meeting science in the 2026 Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior.