NEWS
Office workers plead for shorter meetings
Office workers say meetings need to be shortened to tackle an overload of calls and catchups that drag on productivity, according to research from Brother UK. The research, which polled 2,000 UK office workers, found that 55% complained they waste too much time in meetings, with 57% saying they only attend a useful meeting once a week. In addition, 81% are confident that shorter calls and catchups would achieve the same outcomes, creating more time to deliver their responsibilities, according to the findings. Respondents cited waffling (59%), too much small talk (48%), late joiners (31%) and people not paying attention (31%) as the worst culprits for timewasting, with 43% convinced that colleagues try and do other work during most meetings. The research, from Brother UK’s Meaningful Meeting Manifesto , also uncovered a poor standard of meeting facilitation, with 53% of respondents saying they attend too many unengaging and poorly structured meetings, with this figure rising to 67% among remote workers. “It’s clear that the UK’s meeting culture still heavily contributes to workplace productivity,” said Phil Jones MBE, managing director at Brother UK. “Bringing people together will always be an important part of culture, problem-solving, building relationships and developing new customers. Many meetings could be shorter and provide people with more free time to focus on delivery. “Our findings also uncovered that meetings that overrun and waste time have a negative impact on our morale and attitudes at work. Half of the respondents (54%) admitted
that they feel frustrated, with 27% feeling demotivated and 25% going as far to say they think less of their colleagues. “There is still work to do to right the UK’s meeting culture, even in our own business. Greater consideration on time, place and how to better facilitate calls and catchups will help nurture more productive meetings, more often.” The research found that office workers see morning, in-person meetings with strict agendas and actions notes as the most productive. Two thirds (67%) believe face- to-face meetings are more productive than meeting virtually (24%), even among staff working remotely (57%). The findings also show that 88% of respondents agreed that timekeeping is important to holding a productive meeting, followed by keeping to a strict agenda (78%), circulating actions notes (74%), putting laptops and phones away if in person (73%) and
Phil Jones managing director
brother.co.uk
keeping cameras on if virtual (61%). When asked when respondents feel most productive in a meeting,
87% say they are at their best before midday, with 9am-11am the most productive period.
Go Inspire invests in commercial print site
Marketing performance partner Go Inspire, a Xerox company, has made a £1.5 million investment in its Kettering commercial print facilities. Covering various areas of manufacturing, the upgrade includes machinery updates and equipment replacements, as well as the establishment of a new digital department, which will be supported by a cutting-edge web portal. The investment enhances and streamlines
Go Inspire’s manufacturing processes, helping it deliver better experiences, improved performance and new services to its customers. The implementation of web-to-print allows Go Inspire to expand into the digital print and short-run offset market. Powered by XMPIE, the system will streamline small-run work within the business, reducing costs and administrative efforts while expediting the manufacturing process.
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