It should be an email if...

People often think needing to communicate with someone professionally automatically means that you should be scheduling a meeting. Meeting fatigue is a very real concept that impacts working professionals in various sectors.

Here are some statistics on meetings shared by Highfive:

• Every year since 2000, the time spent in meetings has increased by about 10%

• An average meeting lasts anywhere from 31 to 60 minutes

• “Going by the book” (or detailed agenda) can decrease the amount of meeting time up to 80%

• No more than 37% of meetings in the US use agendas

• 73% of people multitask in meetings

Source: https://highfive.com/blog/10-video-conferencing-statistics

Unnecessary and unproductive meetings waste time and money. Before you consider sending that meeting request, think about your objective for wanting to meet. Your in-person meeting could really be an email if,

• You need just a few answers from people.

• You only want feedback.

• You only need to give information to people.

• You don’t have all the right people at the table for an in-person meeting.

• You only want quick updates that are important for you.

• You don’t have a clear agenda or objective, but need to give some information out.

Here are some scenarios where an in-person meeting may be necessary:

• You want to do department updates and look for areas for department collaboration opportunities.

• You want to give information about annual staff reviews and get feedback and thoughts from everyone before you finalize the process.

• You’re having some issues with volunteer engagement and want to brainstorm solutions to address the problems.

Time management is a skill set that contributes to ultimate productivity in the workplace. Be sure that you are spending time doing your job and not sitting in meetings that did not need to happen in the first place.