Reduce meetings where written, asynchronous discussion can resolve the issue
More meetings in a day were associated with greater fatigue and perceived workload. Canceling an unnecessary meeting frees its scheduled duration directly.
What it takes
Free, but needs colleagues' and managers' cooperation. Writing a clear explanation can take more effort than speaking casually.
What you may gain
Surveys of 676 and 304 employees working more than 35 hours weekly found that meeting time's relationship with attitudes and well-being depended on meeting quality and how interdependent the job was. A separate week-long diary study found more daily meetings associated with greater fatigue and perceived workload. The direct time saving is the duration of meetings removed.
Context & considerations
Meeting quantity is not uniformly harmful. Rogelberg's 2006 study found that more meetings could be acceptable in highly interdependent jobs. No cited study directly compared meetings with asynchronous written communication; that recommendation is the author's inference.
Research & references
Rogelberg, S. G., Leach, D. J., Warr, P. B., & Burnfield, J. L. (2006). “Not another meeting!” Are meeting time demands related to employee well-being? Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(1). https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.1.83 ; Luong, A., & Rogelberg, S. G. (2005). Meetings and more meetings: The relationship between meeting load and the daily well-being of employees. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2699.9.1.58