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

In Germany, a staggering 64 billion euros are wasted each year due to inefficient meetings, according to a report by meeting software company Doodle. However, when adjusted for inflation, the cost is estimated to be around 80 billion euros. To help businesses gauge the cost of their meetings, including an estimate of inefficiency, a new calculator has been introduced by Handelsblatt.

The central metric used by Handelsblatt to gauge meeting inefficiency is the number of participants. Research conducted by Microsoft researchers, using data from online meetings, suggests that the perceived inclusiveness and efficiency of a meeting are strongly correlated. Based on this study, Handelsblatt has simplified the individual's perceived inclusiveness of a meeting to gauge the meeting's efficiency.

As a result, the number of attendees emerges as the most significant factor impacting inclusiveness and meeting efficiency. Meetings with two or three participants are perceived as inclusive by more than 90% of respondents, while meetings with six or more participants are perceived as inclusive by only 67% of the participants. For meetings with more than 15 people, only one-third of the participants feel included and perceive the meeting as efficient.

Lev Tankelevitch, one of the study authors, explains that fewer people do not automatically make a meeting better, but everyone must understand why they are attending. Smaller meetings make the reason for participation clearer for individuals, leading to greater satisfaction with smaller meetings. Additionally, smaller meetings offer a higher chance of individual participation, which contributes to a greater perceived efficiency.

Some companies have implemented rules regarding meeting sizes. Jeff Bezos, at Amazon, set a rule that no more than eight people should be in a meeting, equivalent to the number of people that can be fed with two pizzas. Similarly, Bayer follows a similar principle. Nisha Mahendrarajan, from Bayer's core team for the meeting culture, emphasizes that if individuals cannot contribute to or benefit from a meeting, they are encouraged to leave early.

The team calculated that the company could save 124 million euros annually if all employees spent an hour less in meetings weekly. This significant cost-saving potential highlights the importance of efficient meetings. Factors such as having an agenda and punctuality also influence meeting efficiency. Companies like Microsoft have aligned their meeting guidelines with these findings and have published them, while Bayer is in the process of disseminating a similar set of guidelines within the group.

The meeting calculator, therefore, cannot provide an absolute, calculated truth about office exchanges. Instead, it aims to provide a scientific basis for the well-known question: Was this meeting really necessary? Or could a simple email have sufficed?