Satisfied employees through Lean (6): Productive meeting culture

Several studies have shown that employees in German companies spend an average of 19% of their working time in meetings. However, only a good half of the to-dos planned in these meetings are actually implemented. Own estimates from several large companies are even significantly higher. Also, on average, employees see almost half the time they spend in meetings as wasted. The reason for this is usually the lack of planning, preparation and moderation of the meetings. Wrong or too large number of participants as well as unpunctuality are further reasons for the lack of efficiency of meetings. Participation in such meetings – especially when employees have a high workload – often leads to frustration and usually does not contribute to job satisfaction. Improving the culture of meetings in the company therefore not only means an increase in efficiency for the company, but also contributes to employee satisfaction at the same time.

The introduction of lean administration usually also includes the optimization of the meeting culture. The first step is the collection/analysis, i.e. which meetings take place, in which form and with what potential for waste. This can be collected with a  simple  waste analysis, or in more detail with precise time specifications as part of an activity structure analysis. For example, at an international plant manufacturer, it was found that all project managers spend more than 10% of their working time in not project-relevant, i.e. general meetings. The potential and costs in a large corporation with hundreds of project managers can be easily calculated.

As part of the lean implementation, meeting standards and rules are developed based on the actual causes of the problem, with which the waste caused by inefficient meetings can be significantly reduced. It is important here that all those involved agree on the new ‘meeting culture’. This also includes clear rules, the definition of protocols and follow-up work. And the most important step – as with all other lean projects – is the regular control and continuous improvement of the meeting culture.

Incidentally, the above-mentioned plant manufacturer was able to reduce the time for general meetings by more than 50% relatively quickly. And the project managers felt much relieved because they now had the freedom to do more important things.