Most people get anxious at the prospect of work meetings

A new report based on a survey of 2,000 hybrid and remote employees claims that 8 in 10 people often feel anxious or worried about attending day-to-day work meetings. The white paper titled ‘Zoomed In, Zoned Out’ has been released by Craft Docs [registration], and reports on hybrid and remote workers’ attitudes towards business meetings and other daily workplace processes in 2023.

When respondents were asked if they often feel anxious or worried about attending day-to-day work meetings, 39 per cent said they strongly agreed whilst another 42 per cent said they somewhat agreed. Only 9 per cent said they somewhat or strongly disagreed with the statement.

According to the report, these anxieties are felt by both managers and team members, as 83 per cent of managers agreed with the statement and 71 per cent of team members.  The report also claims that a quarter of workers (25 per cent) believe they haven’t received any value from the last 4-5 meetings they’ve attended and only 2 in 3 people (66 per cent) believe they contributed any value themselves.

The problem with these sentiments may lie in the fact that only 22 per cent of respondents believe they always attend meetings fully prepared, highlighting the need for more effective planning and organisation across teams and wider businesses. In addition, 72 per cent believe that within the last two weeks, they have attended at least one meeting that could have instead been communicated via an email or other form of written communication.

Around 60 per cent also believe the number of hours they spend in meetings each week could be reduced, for example by sharing written status updates and important information ahead of the meeting or using collaboration tools to communicate asynchronously instead.