The Surprising Science of Meetings

Publisher's Summary

A recent estimate suggests that employees endure a staggering 55 million meetings a day in the United States. This tremendous time investment yields only modest returns. No organization made up of human beings is immune from the all-too-common meeting gripes: those that fail to engage, those that inadvertently encourage participants to tune out, and those that blatantly disregard participants' time.

Most companies and leaders view poor meetings as an inevitable cost of doing business. But managers can take heart: Researchers now have a clear understanding of the key drivers that make meetings successful. In The Surprising Science of Meetings, Steven G. Rogelberg, researcher and consultant to some of the world's most successful companies, draws from extensive research, analytics and data mining, and survey interviews with over 5,000 employees across a range of industries to share the proven practices and techniques that help managers and employees enhance the quality of their meetings. For those who lead and participate in meetings, Rogelberg provides immediate direction, guidance, and relief, offering a how-to guide to change your working life starting today.

©2019 Steven G. Rogelberg (P)2019 Gildan Media

Doing meetings the right way!

Wow. Totally recommend this for any one who has daily meetings. The fact that the recommendations are based on evidence makes this a really powerful book!

Interesting research paired with practical advice

Interesting research paired with practical advice on a topic that affects us all -- Meetings! There are so many business books out there that espouse opinion or anecdotal evidence. Here is a book with advice based on actual scientific findings. The topic is relevant to everyone. We all have to either attend or lead meetings. We all hate them, but what I discovered from this book is there is tons of research out that can help us do it better. The author provides lots of fascinating statistics about meetings (blown away by how much time and money we waste in meetings) along with results from all sorts of studies done all over the world. The best part is that he offers practical advice on how to make meetings better based on all this research. Everyone should read this so meetings can stop being so miserable.

Helpful, accessible, high-quality tips

Great book for two reasons: (1) the suggestions are well-organized to make them easy to find and implement, and (2) the suggestions are based in actual research findings! I'd strongly recommend buying the physical copy of the book for the tools at the end (and to more easily peruse each chapter's takeaways), but I enjoyed listening to the audiobook as a way to get a good overview of the science-based recommendations offered. Dr. Rogelberg has thought through all different types of meetings, including teleconferences and walking meetings, and I think everyone who has to run a meeting will find something of use here.