11+ Meeting Statistics To Pay Attention To In 2021

Jun 21, 2021 • 1 Min Read

Source: Photo by Mikael Blomkvist from https://www.pexels.com/photo/team-having-a-meeting-6476254/

Meetings can be tedious, predominantly when we're all working from home. Oftentimes, we found ourselves being roped into endless meetings with no fruitful outcome; what may be the cause behind it?

On December 12, 2012, 16,972 participants took part in the largest telephone conference in history. According to Guinnessworldrecords.com, “All the participants were on the call concurrently for at least 10 seconds.” The Guinness World Record does not say what they talked about, but the sheer number of participants could leave anyone with questions about whether this was a productive meeting.

While it’s not every day that almost 17,000 people take part in a telephone conference or any meeting for that matter, we came across other interesting meeting statistics that you might find surprising.

This article presents some interesting meeting statistics. We look at the amount of time spent in meetings, unproductive meetings and their cost, how workers perceive meetings, and how meeting statistics have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

>> Read this relevant article: Are Your Meetings Fruitful? > Read more into this: Preventing Fatigue from Online Meetings > Further reading that may interest you: 3 Words to Keep Online Meetings Productive <<

[Source: https://projectmanagernews.com/general/meeting-statistics/]

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References:

Largest Telephone Conference Call (An account by Guiness World Records https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-telephone-conference-call)
The State of Meetings 2019 (A blog by Doodle Blog https://en.blog.doodle.com/state-of-meetings-2019/)
Let's Call Off the Meeting and Get Back to Work (An article by Andy Kessler https://www.wsj.com/articles/andy-kessler-lets-call-off-the-meeting-and-get-back-to-work-1420156148)
55 Million: A Fresh Look at the Number, Effectiveness, and Cost of Meetings in the U.S. (An article by Elise Keith https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/fresh-look-number-effectiveness-cost-meetings-in-us)
Half Of All Meetings Are A Waste Of Time - Here’s How To Improve Them (An article by Peter High https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2019/11/25/half-of-all-meetings-are-a-waste-of-timeheres-how-to-improve-them/?sh=4976f61a2ea9)
The Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak Performance (A book by Steven G. Rogelberg https://www.amazon.com/Surprising-Science-Meetings-Lead-Performance/dp/0190689218)
Ineffective Meetings Cost Companies Up to $283 Billion a Year (So Streamline Collaboration With These Tips) (An article by John White https://www.inc.com/john-white/ineffective-meetings-cost-companies-up-to-283-billion-a-year-streamline-collaboration-with-these-tips.html)
Your Scarcest Resource (An article by Michel Mankins, Chris Brahm & Greg Caimi https://hbr.org/2014/05/your-scarcest-resource)
How Much Time Do We Spend in Meetings? (Hint: It's Scary) (An article by The Muse Editor https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-much-time-do-we-spend-in-meetings-hint-its-scary)
Time Spent in Meeting - Statistics (An article by Otter ai https://blog.otter.ai/meeting-statistics/)
[Infograhic] How to Master Meetings (by CBTS https://go.cbts.com/how-to-master-meetings)
The Science and Fiction of Meetings (A resarch article by Cliff W. Scott https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cliff-Scott/publication/265508855_The_Science_and_Fiction_of_Meetings/links/54107b050cf2df04e75d5eaa/The-Science-and-Fiction-of-Meetings.pdf)
Meeting Report (by Norma design https://normadesign.it/realizzazione-siti-web-torino/meeting-report/)
Survey Finds Meeting Fatigue a Myth (by Intrado https://www.intrado.com/en/whitepaper/cloud-collaboration/survey-finds-meeting-fatigue-myth)
You're Right! You Are Working Longer and Attending More Meetings (An article by Danielle Kost https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/you-re-right-you-are-working-longer-and-attending-more-meetings)
Collaborating during Coronavirus: The Impact of COVID-19 on the nature of work (A research article by Evan DeFilippis, Stephen Michael Impink, Madison Singell, Jeffrey T. Polzer & Raffaella Sadun https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w27612/w27612.pdf)

Ben Aston

Ben Aston a digital project manager and Founder of Project Manager News. I've been in the industry for more than 15 years working in the UK at London’s top digital agencies including Dare, Wunderman, Lowe and DDB. I’ve delivered everything from film to CMS', games to advertising and eCRM to eCommerce sites. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across a wide range of great clients; automotive brands including Land Rover, Volkswagen and Honda; Utility brands including BT, British Gas and Exxon, FMCG brands such as Unilever, and consumer electronics brands including Sony.