How to ensure effective communication without taking up all of your employees time

John Hackston, OPP’s Head of R&D, explains why overloading people is an issue: “I’ve heard people complain of ‘meeting fatigue’ – going straight from one meeting to another, they never have the opportunity to stop and think about what will happen or how they need to prepare for the next meeting, nor the chance to consolidate their thoughts from the last meeting. As a result, meetings become less efficient and effective, leading to the need for even more meetings, leading to even less time and so on into a dysfunctional spiral.

Dan Grant, Director of HR at Dell UK agrees, adding that staffs’ other work will also begin to suffer. “Too many meetings over a short period of time can reduce productivity and overall morale within your team. If you’re spending all of your time in meetings, there won’t be time to carry out essential tasks, and there will be less time to spend on creative tasks.”