Tired of Too Many Meetings? Try These Organization Design Fixes
If you find yourself jumping from one meeting to the next with little time to get actual work done, you’re not alone. Meetings, whether in person or on Zoom, have taken over many workplaces. While some meetings are essential, too many could signal a deeper issue with your organization’s structure.
Ask yourself:
Are multiple people from the same team in the same meetings?
Are decisions taking too long because they involve too many meetings?
Do you have to wait weeks to get a slot on someone’s calendar?
Are you worried about missing out if you’re not in every meeting?
If you answered "yes" to any of these, it’s worth looking into whether your organization’s design is the root cause. The good news is that you can apply some simple organization design tools to get things back on track.
Here’s How to Diagnose and Fix the Problem:
Decision Mapping: Let’s say in your organization, every decision needs input from multiple departments. This slows things down. By creating a decision map, you can clarify who has the right to make decisions and where bottlenecks happen. For example, if a marketing team is always waiting on approval from finance, consider whether both teams need to be involved in every step. Streamlining decision-making can cut down on unnecessary meetings.
Spans and Layers: If managers in your company are overseeing only a few direct reports, or if there are many levels between employees and top leadership, this might contribute to a meeting-heavy culture. Take a tech company, for example, where every project requires multiple approvals. By flattening the organization and increasing spans of control, you can speed up communication and reduce the need for so many check-ins.
Network Analysis: This tool helps you map who attends meetings and how people are connected. Let’s say you have a few key employees who seem to be in every meeting because they’re central to information sharing. By recognizing this, you can redistribute responsibilities or improve information flow through other channels, reducing their need to attend every single meeting.
Internal Communication: Is your company relying too heavily on meetings to share important updates? A well-structured communication system can help cut down on meetings. For example, a financial services firm might implement a clear email-based update system that ensures everyone gets the information they need without having to attend a meeting.
Organizational Culture and Status: In some organizations, having a packed calendar can be seen as a sign of importance. Does your company reward “being busy” over getting work done? If so, rethinking how status is granted could help shift the focus from filling up calendars to actually being productive.
Organization design isn’t just for major restructuring efforts—it’s also a powerful tool for solving everyday issues like meeting overload. By applying these techniques, you can free up valuable time and get your organization back to working more efficiently.
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