B2 – Upper Intermediate
There is probably not a single employee in the world who’s free from meetings. The work culture nowadays is so obsessed with meetings that it takes the productivity out of the employee. Instead of focusing on essential work or projects, employees have to sit through some long hours trying to dissect some agenda that oftentimes can be dealt with by a few people in a few minutes.
Now that the digital workspace has been a generally acceptable avenue for the current situation, employees are no less immune to the demands of a meeting now and then. Being able to reach people even when they’re away from the office gives more reasons to accommodate calls for meetings because it is now more possible to do so.
So how do we alter this culture and improve productivity? It really is in our hands. Watch this video for some tips on what to do to be more in control of your calendar.
Discussion Questions:
- What has been your experience with meetings in the workplace?
- Do you agree with the tips laid out in the video? Why or why not?
- Which of the tips is the most effective? Why?
- Have you tried any of the tips mentioned in the video? How did it go?
- What other tips would you add to the list that would be effective in managing your schedule?
4 replies on “Dealing with Meeting Overload”
1.- Unfortunately, meetings are a usual part in my daily work. Every day, I usually have one meeting at least. Most of them are unnecessary since the topics can be managed through e-mail. In others, my contribution is so low that I do not have anything to say at all. The average number of people at those meeting is around 10/12 participants, many of them are hearing or doing other tasks while the host is speaking. I think that many of these meetings are a waste of time. I have had the case that someone has called me after the meeting because the ideas were not clear enough.
2.- My company usually gives all the employees training to improve our productivity at work. One of them, is how to handle meetings. All the tips given in this video had already provided by my company. They seem very interesting, but the problem is when other parties do not want to take it into account and if they are on a level above me, I can do to put these pieces of advice into practice.
3.- As I said previously, there cannot be any effective tips if the parties are not interested in carrying them out. From my point of view, the most effective thing should be just to invite the necessary people, set a schedule and focus only on the topic.
4.- I try to avoid meetings. Instead, I prefer to write e-mails or do a Teams to clarify any doubt I have. I understand that people are always not available for me, and they will check my consults when they have a moment and give me the answer when they are sure of it.
5.- Little more can I say, when I suppose that these tips have been already studied by professionals and they have researched all the ways to improve the workers time.
You tried your best in writing very good answers. You can express your thoughts well. Keep up the good work!
Just take a look at this sentence and how it can be improved:
Keep being consistent. Until your next entry.
What has been your experience with meetings in the workplace?
Honestly, I’ve come across with the full range of possibilities, from totally unproductive days to days without any meeting at all, I’d say that I’d rather go with the second one.
Do you agree with the tips laid out in the video? Why or why not?
Yes, the woman in the video got all the tips that prevent you from being drowned by meetings.
Which of the tips is the most effective? Why?
Saying NO to meetings, if you’re sure that your presence there is not going to be valuable, you should answer “no” to that request.
Have you tried any of the tips mentioned in the video? How did it go?
Mostly all of them except on saving some time in my schedule to do actual work. I’ll definitely try that in the upcoming future.
What other tips would you add to the list that would be effective in managing your schedule?
I’d say that one should attend meetings that are way out of your scope. For example, if you are a manager, don’t waste your time with techies meetings. Each role should focus on its own business. This could be appliable to all but to people that reports to multiple departments.
Good to see you back again to your writing practice. Thank you so much for doing this exercise again.
Here is something you can write a little better:
Great work! Keep it up!