The Future of Meetings

If you’re one of the people who belong to the “work from home” economy this is for you. 42% of the US labor force fall in this category.

Let’s call them mind workers.

The biggest issue for mind workers is how to get their work done when meetings went terribly wrong during the pandemic.

Meetings gone wrong means that you have a day filled with fleeting moments when you can get your work done. Meetings gone wrong means you’re trying to multitask while pretending to be paying attention. You end up working longer hours to get your most important work done. Meetings gone wrong are meetings created to prove that you are present, effective, working, producing, justifying your worth to the company you work for. Cue micromanagement culture.

Meetings gone wrong means you’re back to back in meetings while your pandemic brain is trying to stay afloat and focus on the work that matters. #notpossible

With over 40% considering leaving their employer in the future, a thoughtful approach is required in how, when and why work gets done and how we interact with each other.

Microsoft reports time spent in meetings more than doubled (2.5x) globally and it continues to rise. Higher productivity comes at a human cost. Burnout affects 77% of employees according to a report from Deloitte. Not surprising when 87% of mind workers report working late. The average worker spent 157 hours in unnecessary meetings in 2020 according to Asana.

73% of employees want flexible remote work options to stay.

62% of meetings are unscheduled or ad hoc and weekly meetings time continue to increase.

Instead of #MeetingsGoneWrong I propose a new way to communicate in the future — scientifically proven to be more effective, good for humans and good for business.

Communication Done Right

1. Asynchronous communication
2. Treat your team like adults, not children. Instead of meetings, adapt asynchronous communication. The results may surprise you.

“Productivity is so through the roof that we are an entire year ahead on our product roadmap. The team is happier and more committed to the mission because they actually get to work on it,” said Sheffie Robinson, Shamrck’s founder and CEO.

She decided to go completely meeting-less in 2018 with her remote team. “It’s a much-needed antidote to the still widespread corporate “micromanagement” attitude”, Robinson added.

1. Keep every Zoom meeting to 30 min.
2. Studies show that after 30 min your attention starts to decline on video calls. Video meetings are not the same as in-person meetings. So unless you have a really good reason to keep your meeting to 60 minutes, you’re better off keeping it to 30. 30 is the new 60.
3. The way work gets done has changed forever. We need to change the way we communicate too. It’s time to replace Zoom hell with strategic communication, innovation, and deep work. Companies that adapt to this new mode of communication will retain and acquire the best talent and be on their way to replacing Hustle Culture with Human Culture, that’s good for humans and the bottom line.

Head over to Unhustle.com and download our free ebook with 7 superpowers from the Unhustle Framework, you can implement today to achieve relaxed success.