What 'meeting hangovers' feel like

In a recent survey for Asana Work Innovation Lab, researchers surveyed over 5,000 knowledge workers across the United States and United Kingdom and found that over 90% of respondents said they experienced meeting hangovers at least occasionally.

More than half of the workers said meeting hangovers negatively impacted their workflow or productivity, and 47% said they felt less engaged with their work. These effects typically resulted from rumination, or replaying parts of the meeting in their mind. Almost half of respondents also noted harmful effects on their interactions with coworkers, like feeling disconnected from their team or wanting to spend time alone.

Just over a third of respondents said they sometimes vented their frustrations to coworkers while just over a quarter admitted to doing so often or always. The researchers noted that while venting about a bad meeting could provide some social support, it can also spread negativity to coworkers, extending the hangover effect and making it worse.

When asked about the root causes of their frustrations, the most common reasons reported by respondents were:

•  Irrelevance of the topics discussed (59%)
• Lack of a clear agenda or objectives (59%)
•  Poor time management (53%)
• Lack of actionable outcomes or follow-up (48%)
• Unequal (39%) or low (38%) participation
• Ineffective facilitation (30%)

Typically, the effects of these meeting hangovers lasted almost two hours on average, though some reported longer-lasting effects, sometimes until the end of the workday. Many respondents reported taking these negative feelings home, corroborating researchers' suggestions that meeting hangovers can extend outside of the workplace and affect employees' home and family lives.

How to recover from 'meeting hangovers'

To recover from meeting hangovers, the researchers recommend a series of evidence-based steps:

• Take a short break: Taking a quick mental break helped a number of respondents regain their focus following a bad meeting. The technique, known as psychological detachment, involves mentally disconnecting from work and can help disrupt negative thought patterns. Simple mindfulness exercises, like deep breathing, can also help you process immediate reactions before restoring your focus.
• Take a walk: Respondents found recovery efforts were more effective when they put physical distance between themselves and a bad meeting. Taking a walk outside, grabbing some coffee, or just visiting another part of the office can help boost the impact of a mental break.
• Clarify with a coworker: While talking with coworkers is a common recovery strategy, not all conversations have the same effect. The researchers found that conversations aimed at just letting off steam weren't effective and were sometimes counterproductive. But conversations aimed at making sense of the meeting — discussing what went wrong and exploring possible causes — can help you process thoughts, gain perspective, and move forward more effectively.

2. Cut down the list of attendees

Many survey respondents said they felt the meetings attended were irrelevant to them and that they should never have been invited. While larger meetings can appear beneficial for gathering diverse perspectives, research has found that meeting effectiveness typically declines as group size increases, and attendees often feel less included.

To fix this, the researchers recommend aligning your meeting invite list tightly with the purpose of the meeting, prioritizing "must-have" participants and providing "nice-to-have" participants with alternative ways to contribute, like submitting input beforehand or updating them via email afterwards.

3. Avoid vague agendas with no objectives

Respondents were often frustrated not just by the lack of a meeting agenda, but also by agendas that were either vague, recycled, or didn't include any objectives.

Instead, the researchers recommended making agendas more effective by building them around specific questions that are important to your team. For example, instead of having a meeting be a "product launch update," ask, "What are the critical risks to our product launch timeline, and how can we mitigate them?" These questions can also help inform meeting decisions, like how long to meet and who should be in the meeting.

4. Manage time wisely

Poor time management not only frustrated survey respondents, but it also caused ripple effects. For example, one respondent said her boss frequently caused meetings to run over, which made it difficult for her to sustain her focus and required her to follow up with other attendees after the meeting to fill in the gaps. This resulted in the meeting upending her schedule by eating into her work time and forcing her to spend additional time gathering missed information.

To avoid situations like this, the researchers recommend letting the agenda dictate the length of the meeting and keeping the meeting as tight as possible. Typically, meetings are scheduled to last an hour regardless of the agenda but often work expands to fill the available time. Instead, scheduling the meeting for half an hour or 45 minutes can add some time pressure to improve effort and efficiency.

5. Hold everyone accountable

Survey respondents' frustrations often resulted from uncertainty about a meeting's next steps, including their role and action items.

To avoid this, the researchers recommend assigning every agenda item to an owner. This creates accountability and shows shared leadership, which can improve team effectiveness.

As an example, Apple designates a directly responsible individual (DRI) for every action item in its meetings. AI and work management platforms can help this process along by summarizing action items and sending them to the appropriate DRI, making sure they don't stall following the meeting.

These findings "underscore how bad meetings can leave lasting, harmful effects on employees," the researchers write. However, some meetings "can have the opposite effect — leaving employees feeling energized and excited to get back to their work. By implementing the strategies outlined here, organizations can foster a meeting culture in which employees … can leave meetings feeling motivated, focused, and ready to tackle their next tasks with renewed enthusiasm."