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

German companies waste roughly 64 billion euros annually on inefficient meetings, according to a study by the meeting software company Doodle. When adjusted for inflation, this amount is estimated to be around 80 billion euros. A new calculator provided by the Handelsblatt newspaper allows users to determine the cost of meetings, including a rough estimate of their inefficiency.

The central factor in estimating this inefficiency is the number of participants, as determined by Microsoft researchers who analyzed online meetings. They found that perceived inclusiveness and efficiency of meetings strongly correlate with each other. In fact, the Handelsblatt has simplified this relationship between individual perceived inclusiveness and meeting efficiency.

Smaller meetings, with fewer than 15 participants, have a higher perceived inclusiveness and efficiency. The number of attendees significantly influences the inclusiveness and efficiency of meetings, with over 90% of respondents viewing meetings of two or three people as inclusive, but only one-third of participants in meetings with more than 15 people feeling included and thus perceiving the meeting as efficient.

Study author Lev Tankelevitch suggests that fewer people do not automatically mean a better meeting, but it's crucial for each person to understand why they are attending. Smaller meetings are more likely to have all participants involved, leading to greater perceived efficiency. Some companies have established rules regarding meeting sizes, such as Jeff Bezos' rule at Amazon that no more than eight people should attend a meeting, which fits in two pizzas.

Bayer follows a similar approach. However, Nisha Mahendrarajan from Bayer's core team for meeting culture emphasizes that if you cannot contribute or benefit from a meeting, you should be allowed to leave it early. Many employees were surprised when they calculated the potential savings if everyone spent an hour less in meetings each week, estimating a savings of 124 million euros.

Efficient meetings are crucial for this reason. Other factors affecting meeting efficiency according to studies include having an agenda and starting and ending on time. Companies like Microsoft have aligned their meeting policies with these insights and are even distributing similar guidelines across their organization. However, the meeting calculator provided by the Handelsblatt does not represent an infallible calculation of the exchange in the office.

Instead, it aims to provide a scientific foundation for a well-known question: Was this meeting really necessary, or could a simple email have sufficed?