A meeting hangover is a period of decrease in focus, motivation or productivity after a bad meeting. Organizational and work researchers at the University of North Carolina and the Asana Work Management platform have united forces to deal with the immediate consequences of bad meetings. A recent report on work innovation, to which more than 5,000 knowledge workers contributed in the US and the UK, tried to find out how they experience bad meetings and their consequences.
Fortunately, findings indicate that meetings leaders can take proactive measures to prevent meetings of meetings – and those of us who undergo bad meetings can recover more effectively when prevention is insufficient.
What are the hangover of meetings?
In the survey, more than 90% of respondents said they had at least occasionally hangover. More than half said that these hangovers negatively affected their workflow or productivity, while 47% reported feeling less engaged. These effects usually resulted for people to brood or repeat parts of the meeting in their mind.
Almost half (47%) of respondents noticed harmful effects on their interactions with co-workers, such as feeling disconnected from their team or wanting to spend time alone.
For others, the frustration of the meeting often spread to conversations with co -workers, resulting in informal meetings after the meeting. More than a third (36%) of the respondents said they sometimes vented their frustrations with co-workers, and more than a quarter (27%) admitted to do so frequently or ever.
While venting on a bad meeting can provide some social support, it can also spread negativity to co -workers, extending and amplifying the hangover effect.
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When interviewees were asked about the causes of their frustrations, the most common reasons were the irrelevance of the topics discussed, the lack of a clear agenda and the mismanagement of time.
As meeting leaders can avoid hangover
These concerns can be addressed by taking advantage of the insights of the meeting science. Here are five strategies to avoid gangs of meetings, addressing their front causes:
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Do not master, support
Many of the deep causes of frustration can be approached with more active and careful support. For example, many of the study respondents expressed frustration when their contributions were relevant, but did not have the opportunity to contribute to the conversation.
Distribution of participation through motivation can take on various forms, from making team members lead their agenda items assigned to the use of interactive polls or questionnaires to request information from participants. These approaches are especially valuable in virtual or hybrid environments, where participants can disappear more easily in the background.
Cut the list of guests mercilessly
Align your list of meeting guests with the purpose of the meeting. Prioritize “mandatory” participants and provide “pleasant” alternative ways to contribute, such as sending information in advance or updating it by email later. Companies like Dropbox adopted this approach, encouraging meetings leaders to invite only major stakeholders, not “spectators”.
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Transform agendas into action plans
The study respondents were not just frustrated with the lack of schedules – they were also frustrated with vague, recycled or not included goals.
Make your agendas more effective, building them around specific questions that are important to your team. For example, instead of “product launch update”, ask, “What are the critical risks for our product launch schedule and how can we mitigate them?” These questions can also inform other meeting decisions, such as how long to gather and who should be in the room.
Make every minute worth it – and don’t run over
Let the schedule dictate the duration of the meeting and keep it as tight as possible. Most meetings are scheduled to last an hour, regardless of the agenda, but Parkinson’s law reminds us that work expands to fill the time available. Scheduling the meeting for half an hour or 45 minutes can add a little time pressure and increase effort and efficiency.
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Demand responsibility, always
The persistent frustrations of interviewees often resulted from the uncertainty about the next steps of a meeting, including their functions and action items.
To neutralize this, assign one owner to each item of the agenda. This creates responsibility and demonstrates shared leadership, which can increase the effectiveness of the team.
These strategies can help prevent meetings of meetings, but even the best planned meetings can sometimes decrease. How can you put them back on track? Since rumination and outburst tend to extend the hangover of respondents, consider a proactive approach. Set aside time during the meeting to recognize participants’ concerns and, if necessary, adjust the schedule by postponing less critical items to create space for significant discussions.
How to recover from a bad meeting
It was also asked respondents about approaches that helped them and their co -workers recover more effectively from meetings of meetings. Unsurprisingly, their strategies aligned themselves widely with the findings of stress research at the workplace:
Press and redefine
Making a small mental pause helped many respondents recover their focus after a bad meeting. This technique, known as psychological distancing, involves mental disconnection from work and helps interrupt negative thinking patterns such as brooding or ruminating. After a bad meeting, take a break from a few minutes to clean your mind. Simple full attention exercises, such as deep breathing, can also help you process immediate reactions before restoring focus.
Go take a walk
Recovery efforts were even more effective when respondents put physical distance from each other and a bad meeting. This included taking an outdoor ride, having a coffee or simply visiting another part of the office.
Find clarity in the conversation
Talking to co -workers was another common recovery strategy, but not all conversations had the same effect. We observed two distinct approaches with very different results.
Conversations composed only to vent were not effective – and sometimes even counterproductive. Although these interactions occasionally offered short -term emotional relief, this approach also used to extend the effects of the hangover.
In contrast, conversations intended for were constructive. By discussing what went wrong and exploring the possible causes, you can process your thoughts, gain perspective and move on more efficiently.
If you are venting after a bad meeting, reformulate discussions as an opportunity for problem solving. By doing so, you can interrupt negative thinking patterns that often lead to break and repeat and return to your work faster.
The findings emphasize how bad meetings can leave lasting harmful effects. But some meetings may have the opposite effect – leaving employees energetic and excited to return to work. By implementing these described strategies, organizations can promote a meeting culture where employees can leave motivated, focused and ready to face their next tasks with renewed enthusiasm.
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