Planning and Participating in Face-to-Face and Virtual meetings

As you prepare to join the workforce, expect to attend meetingslots of them! Estimates suggest that workers on average spend four hours a week in meetings and consider more than half of that time as wasted.51 Managers spend even more time in meetings. In one survey, managers considered over a third of meeting time unproductive and reported that two-thirds of meetings fell short of their stated objectives.52 Much to the dismay of managers, at Seagate Technology in Cupertino, California, some work groups were spending more than 20 hours a week in meetings.53 However, if meetings are well run, workers actually desire more, not fewer, of them.54 Business meetings consist of three or more people who assemble to pool information, solicit feedback, clarify policy, seek consensus, and solve problems. However, as growing numbers of employees work at distant locations, meetings have changed. Workers cannot always meet face-to-face. To be able to exchange information effectively and efficiently, you will need to know how to plan and participate in face-to-face as well as virtual meetings. Although meetings are disliked, they can be career-critical. Instead of treating them as thieves of your valuable time, try to see meetings as golden opportunities to demonstrate your leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills. To help you make the most of these opportunities, this section outlines best practices for running and contributing to meetings.

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