How Much Time Do People Spend in Unnecessary Meetings?

According to recent research from Otto.ai, 31% of meetings attended by workers each week are unnecessary. The survey included 632 professionals from 20 different industries. On average, respondents attend 17.2 meetings per week and spend 18 hours in meetings. Managers with four or more direct reports spend 22.2 hours in meetings per week.

Respondents accept 83% of meeting invites, but want to decline 31%, yet only actually decline 14%. People don't usually decline invites because they don't want to offend the organizer, look unengaged, or bother a coworker. 11.8 meetings, totaling 11.9 hours, are critical per week and 5.3 meetings (5.7 hours) can be skipped.

Managers with four or more direct reports have 13.9 meetings (totaling 14.4 hours) that are critical and 6.5 meetings (7.5 hours) that can be skipped. This data was collected from a survey of 632 professionals from 20 different industries.