There’s no denying that hybrid and remote work have changed the way we hold meetings and work together. The next questions now are: how much have meetings changed and what can we do to maximize productivity in this new era of collaboration?
The answer to those questions can be found in meeting data, and Vyopta recently finished a study to gain new insights into meetings of all sizes. They looked at the data from different six-week periods, covering over 40 million meetings across Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, and Zoom from 11 organizations and over 450k unique employees – and what they found speaks volumes about meeting culture and employee retention.
Is Meeting Fatigue Real?
One common concern about meetings is that having too many of them will lead to “meeting fatigue,” where employees are burned out from being on camera and spending unnecessary time in meetings. While this might lead to the assumption that fewer meetings are better, Vyopta’s research has shown this isn’t necessarily the case.
Vyopta discovered that employees with around four one-on-one meetings over those six weeks were more engaged and had higher retention rates than those who only met once or twice over the same time.
More importantly, Vyopta’s data shows that it’s actually a lack of engagement that leads to meeting fatigue. Employees who were able to contribute to the meeting, rather than sit down and listen the entire time, were more engaged and experienced less fatigue. This was consistent regardless of whether the employees were on camera.
In fact, employees who had their cameras on were more likely to remain engaged with the meeting, and reported less fatigue as a result.
The takeaway here is clear: what matters the most isn’t reducing meetings – the key to increasing retention and decreasing meeting fatigue is ensuring all meeting participants are engaged, active, and appreciated.
The Cost of Inefficiency
What happens when meetings are filled with participants who aren’t able to contribute? Unnecessary meetings have their cost, both in time that could be spent more productively and their impact on employees.
Vyopta’s research discovered several important details about non-participation. First, the rate of participants staying muted for an entire meeting has increased since 2022, from 4.8% to 7.2%.
Perhaps more importantly, this data provides a clear way to understand the cost of non-participation:
“Assuming an average employee compensation of $50/hour, and an average employee count of approximately 40,000, in 2022 the cost of no-participation meeting attendance was $10.2 million per organization,” explains Mike Tolliver, Product Management Director at Vyopta. “In 2023, that number rose to $19.1 million.”
In short: every meeting that could have been an email costs organizations time and money, and it’s only getting more expensive.
Additionally, disengaged employees have a higher attrition rate than active meeting participants. Both camera usage and participation correlate to employee retention, as employees who left their organization within a year were less likely to turn their cameras on during small meetings and more likely to stay muted during the calls.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that employees who don’t engage in meetings want to leave – it could also mean that they’re leaving because they feel like they can’t contribute and are left out of conversations. The data alone cannot determine which is the cause and which is the effect.
Meeting Culture Power Players
Who can make the biggest impact on your company’s meetings? According to Vyopta’s research, companies tend to have “power users” – the 10% of employees who host 54% of the meetings. These are the employees who play the largest role in shaping meeting culture
These power users are typically team leads, which means they set the standards for how their teams approach meetings. As such, it’s essential that they’re trained on the best practices for meetings, including ensuring everyone is engaged and has a chance to participate.
For instance, Vyopta found that employees are more likely to have their cameras on when their host is on camera. Encouraging these positive habits among the power users can have a ripple effect, where their meeting behavior encourages more positive meetings across the organization.
Creating a Positive Meeting Environment
With all this information in mind, how can organizations improve their meeting culture and promote a positive environment?
According to Vyopta, there are a few key steps:
- View meeting culture through the same lens as company culture, especially if you have hybrid and remote teams
- Identify, train, and support the power users so they can make a difference
- Leverage data, monitor your progress, and iterate as necessary
- Respect your employees’ privacy concerns
- Provide visibility into your executive decisions, including the goals and data behind them
This all requires understanding the data behind meetings. Knowing your organization’s baseline, variables, and behaviors will help guide you to data-driven decisions and guide your teams to where you want them to go.
From there, you can focus on training and best practices based on solid information. A strong communication and collaboration culture requires work and insight, but understanding the data behind your meetings can help shape a positive work environment.
