First European study on leadership meetings commissioned by Sherpany
Half of executives fear they will lose competitive edge as a result of unproductive meetings. Discover more key findings in the Forrester Consulting Opportunity Snapshot study.
Meetings play a key role in a company's overall performance
The success of a company relies on taking important strategic corporate decisions which are often taken during meetings. To better understand how meetings are used by European C-suite leaders and Vice Presidents, and to find out what has changed as a result of COVID-19, Sherpany commissioned Forrester Consulting, a leading independent global research firm, to conduct a study.
266 C-suite leaders and senior executives.
Companies with more than 1,000 employees.
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK.
Manufacturing, Energy, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Financial services/insurance.
Meeting behaviour at management levels changed
Five times more management teams now meet weekly
- While bi-weekly meetings increased by almost 10%, weekly meetings have nearly quintupled from 4% to 19%.
- Monthly meetings have decreased by 14%, while quarterly meetings have nearly halved to 11%.
The importance of management meetings
Leadership meetings are critical for business decisions
- 91% of respondents rated strategic planning as particularly important, and 71% found them always or mostly productive.
- Respondents gave less importance to organisational culture and talent strategy (56%), mergers and acquisitions (52%), and operations including tools and resources (48%); only 40% - 45% rated them as productive.
The link between inefficient meetings and performance
Unproductive leadership meetings impact competitiveness
- 46% of respondents expect to lose their competitive edge due to unproductive meetings
- 41% of respondents are slower to react to disruption as a result, and
- 39% of respondents experience missing out on market opportunities.
These obstacles before, during and after meetings inhibit productivity
Before meetings
39% Inability to have all relevant information available in one place
26% Not enough time to prepare (e.g., documents sent out too late, too many documents)
22% Inability to exchange views on topics or ask qualifying questions beforehand
During meetings
41% Technology challenges (e.g., instability, poor quality audio/ video, poor integration with other tools)
38% Not enough time to discuss all agenda items
36% Not enough data-driven information available
After meetings
37% Lack of overview on past decisions and deadlines
21% No process in place for following up on decisions made
15% Unavailability of concise meeting minutes
Must-have study
The COVID-19 changed many areas of life, including the meeting culture of most companies. Managers must learn to make strategic decisions even faster. To protect themselves and their companies, executives should ensure there is a clear meeting agenda, define explicit meeting objectives, and measure meeting productivity.
About Sherpany
Sherpany is the Swiss market leader for meeting management software. CEO Tobias Häckermann has been pursuing the goal of creating a world where every meeting counts since the company was founded in 2011.
Sherpany software is based on the proprietary Azend® framework, which was created using the latest findings from meeting science and demonstrates best practices. Over 350 European companies and more than 11,000 executives are already using Sherpany. According to a panel of international investors, Sherpany is voted one of the best scaleups in Switzerland with the potential to become a unicorn.
Sherpany employs over 145 people at six locations in Europe, with many working remotely from 19 countries around the world.