How the 'attention economy' is 'crashing' internal meetings
Six in 10 Australians say more than half of their colleagues multitask during virtual meetings, according to a survey by People2People Recruitment. The findings suggest that maintaining attention during. . .
Six in 10 Australians say more than half of their colleagues multitask during virtual meetings, according to a survey by People2People Recruitment. The findings suggest that maintaining attention during meetings is a challenge for businesses. “The attention economy is crashing inside meetings, whether they are virtual or face-to-face,” said Suhini Wijayasinghe, head of HR solutions at People2People Recruitment. “As soon as more than one person is involved, it becomes easy for attention to drift and for people to start multitasking. ”Among more than 1200 survey respondents, 75 per cent said they stop paying full attention during every or most virtual meetings, while 8 per cent said they never stop paying full attention. Forty per cent said they browse online during meetings, 32 per cent complete other work and 6 per cent check messages. Only 22 per cent said they do nothing else. The most common reason for losing focus was that a meeting was not relevant to the respondent, cited by 39 per cent. Twenty-nine per cent said meetings run too long, while 23 per cent said they attend too many meetings. Nine per cent identified notifications as the main source of distraction. “A meeting should earn an employee’s attention. That means having a defined purpose, inviting only the people who can contribute or make a decision, and making it clear why their participation matters. ”The survey found differences across age groups. Fifty-nine per cent of Gen X and Baby Boomer respondents said they stop paying full attention in every virtual meeting, compared with 46 per cent of Millennials and 31 per cent of Gen Z respondents. More than half of Gen Z and Millennials said they browsed the web when distracted, while almost half of Gen X and Baby Boomers continued working on other tasks. “The behaviour looks different, but the result is the same: the meeting does not have their full attention,” Wijayasinghe said. As online, hybrid and office-based work models continue to coexist, businesses can review how they organise meetings. They can communicate updates that do not require discussion in writing or through asynchronous channels. People2People recommends shorter meetings, clear agendas, fewer participants, and defined decisions and actions. These measures can support decision-making, accountability and productivity. “Virtual meetings are not inherently ineffective, but unfocused meetings are expensive,” Wijayasinghe said. Further reading:Struggle to pay attention? How to tweak your life to help you focus.