PA life
Roccabella
Treat Your Staff
Treat Your Staff

UK workers spend 30% of their week in status meetings

Delegates down't feel encouraged to participate in meetings

Clarizen, producer of collaborative work management software, recently announced survey results that show UK workers spend as much as 30% of their working week (assuming a 40-hour week) preparing for and attending status meetings โ€“ on average 11.5 hours per week.

Preparing for these meetings often takes as long as the meetings themselves. 65% of UK workers who participate in conference calls report that they multitask during these calls. Additionally, 90% of those who work with teams in multiple locations report being frustrated, most often by communication issues such as keeping everyone in the loop (20%) and communicating with the team (15%). The survey found that:

  • 63% of employed adults in the UK attend status meetings for updates on specific projects, spending on average four hours a week in these meetings
  • 62% of employed adults in the UK attend general status meetings, spending on average 3.7 hours a week in these meetings
  • 59% of UK employees spend time preparing for status meetings each week, spending an average of 3.8 hours preparing for status meetings
  • 65% of those who participate in conference calls with colleagues admit to taking care of other work-related or personal tasks whilst on mute during conference calls; 24% respond to work emails, 19% eat lunch, 13% take care of personal emails and 11% visit the loo; 7% exercise.

Other facts to come out of the survey include:

  • 37% of employed adults in the UK selected โ€œcollaborativeโ€ as their ideal workplace culture, while 18% chose a โ€œhierarchicalโ€ structure
  • Workers who participate in conference calls in the UK are more focused on those conference calls than those in the US: 65% of those in the UK and Australia admit to multitasking while on mute, while 74% of those in the US admit doing so
  • 37% say they wait on average more than five minutes for everyone to join the call.