Workers say nearly a third (31%) of the meetings they attend each week are unnecessary, according to recent research from Otto.ai.
The report was based on data from a survey of 632 professionals who work in 20 different industries. Some 51% of respondents are non-managers or have fewer than four direct reports and 49% have four or more direct reports.
Respondents say they have 17.2 meetings, on average, per week and spend 18 hours, on average, in meetings per week. Managers with four or more direct reports say they have 21.3 meetings, on average, per week and spend 22.2 hours, on average, in meetings per week.
Respondents say only 11.8 meetings (totaling 11.9 hours) are critical, on average, each week and 5.3 meetings (5.7 hours) could be skipped as long as they are kept in the loop. Managers with four or more direct reports say only 13.9 meetings (totaling 14.4 hours) are critical, while 6.5 meetings (7.5 hours) could be skipped.
Respondents say they accept 83% of meeting invites, on average. They say they want to decline 31% of invites, on average, but actually decline only 14%.
Some 47% of respondents say they don't decline meeting invites because they are worried about offending the organizer, 45% say they don't decline because they're worried that their coworkers will think they are unengaged at work, and 39% say they don't decline because they don't want to have to bother a coworker to bring them up to speed.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 632 professionals who work in 20 different industries.
