The average length of a meeting has increased by 10% in the last 15 years, with the duration now being between 31 to 60 minutes. Our friends over in America hold approximately 11 million meetings a day, which equals 55 million meetings per week, and 220 million meetings per year.
Here in the UK it’s reported the average employee can spend nearly 13 working days every year in meetings. It’s safe to say that the modern-day workplace is meeting crazy, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s no secret that much of the contemporary workforce are sick of meetings taking over their lives – according to a survey by Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resorts,
One in 10 workers admit to pretending they got the time or date of meeting wrong, and one in 20 has even confessed to feigning illness to avoid a meeting entirely.
Meetings have evolved to become, in many people’s eyes, unnecessary and unproductive, which has given rise to an altogether different problem: the meeting room no-show.
It may sound simple, and perhaps not a big deal, but when you take a closer look at the actual cost of running meeting rooms within a business, you can see the impact that no-shows have upon real estate costs and employee productivity levels.
While many of us may feel we have too many meetings overall, we’re still struggling to find adequate meeting space: 40% of employees spend up to three weeks per year just searching for a meeting room, and are often reduced to walking around the office in circles, looking for potential areas to hold their meetings in, last-minute. Not an organised or professional look, but one that is unavoidable for many.
However, contrast this figure with the global average of meeting room utilisation at just 35%, and you can see two separate issues begin to emerge. We’re all struggling to book a meeting room, but we’re not using our existing meeting rooms properly. Why? Well, it turns out that the average meeting room no-show rate is a staggering 40%.
What’s more, only 13% of businesses actually keep reports on meeting room no-shows. So, an overwhelming number of workers are lacking the space to hold a meeting, when there is likely an empty meeting room, booked but not being used, right there in front of us… and nobody to report it to. What a conundrum! And an expensive conundrum at that, with over 1 million dollars lost per year by businesses failing to carry out imperative meetings.
What can we do?
Technology is the answer. Using specialised meeting room software can automatically eliminate the need for employees to walk the halls, in search of that elusive meeting space. Then there’s also the added bonus of reporting functions, helping the workforce keep on top of the areas available, and allowing senior members of staff to keep an eye on overall utilisation rates, making changes, where needed.
Condeco’s own meeting room booking system also has the useful auto-bump feature, which is more than just a cute name! This powerful and simple function means that meeting rooms can be released automatically, if attendees do not show to their designated meeting room within a certain set amount of time (usually 15 mins after a booking begins).
Overall, if you want your business to streamline their meeting room booking system, and make the meeting room experience more positive for everyone, then room booking software is imperative. The oft-overlooked meeting room could be the key to boosting your productivity levels and helping cut costs, if managed properly by technology tailored to the job.
