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

In Germany, companies waste around 64 billion euros annually on inefficient meetings, according to a report by Doodle's meeting software. When adjusted for inflation, this figure decreases to approximately 80 billion euros. A new calculator provided by the Handelsblatt allows users to estimate the costs and inefficiency of meetings, including potential improvements.

The central metric used by the Handelsblatt to gauge meeting inefficiency is the number of attendees, based on a Microsoft study that examined the impact of various factors on perceived engagement and efficiency in meetings. The perceived inclusiveness and efficiency of a meeting are strongly correlated, so the Handelsblatt equates individual perceived inclusiveness with meeting efficiency.

As a result, the number of participants emerges as the most significant factor influencing inclusiveness and meeting efficiency. Meetings with two or three participants are considered highly inclusive by over 90% of respondents, while meetings with six or more participants drop to 67% inclusiveness. Beyond 15 participants, only one-third of participants feel included and perceive the meeting as efficient.

Study co-author Lev Tankelevitch notes that while fewer people don't automatically make a meeting better, it's crucial for each participant to understand their reason for attending. This rationale is more apparent in smaller meetings, leading to greater satisfaction and higher perceived efficiency. Some companies have established specific rules for meeting sizes, such as Jeff Bezos' rule at Amazon, which limits meetings to eight people – the number that can be accommodated with two pizzas.

Similarly, Bayer follows this approach. According to Nisha Mahendrarajan, from Bayer's core team for meeting culture, another crucial principle is that if someone cannot contribute to or derive value from a meeting, they should be allowed to leave early. Many employees were surprised to learn that by cutting a weekly meeting by just one hour, the company could save 124 million euros.

Therefore, efficient meetings are of great importance. Other factors that influence meeting efficiency, according to the studies, include the presence of an agenda and starting/punctuality. Microsoft and Bayer have aligned their meeting guidelines with these insights and are disseminating similar catalogs within their organizations.

However, the meeting calculator cannot definitively quantify the impact of meeting reduction across the German economy, as it merely provides scientific backing to a well-known question: Is this meeting truly necessary, or could an email suffice?