Your Intuition Is Right; Meetings Make You Dumber

Want your team to work smarter? Quit holding so many meetings. Honestly, it might be just that simple. According to a study published in the Transcripts of Royal Society of London, participants who were placed into small groups and asked to solve problems experienced an IQ drop of 15 percent. That’s a staggering number, and one you obviously want to avoid. However, there are many ways of understanding why it happens. Disinterest and boredom are certainly factors, but social cues also play a role. If you believe your contribution won’t be heard or valued, your IQ drops. If you’re unduly criticized, it’s the same result. If you feel like you have less status than others in the meeting—same thing. “Results suggest that individuals express diminished cognitive capacity in small groups, an effect that is exacerbated by perceived lower status within the group and correlated with specific neurobehavioral responses,” researchers wrote. So, what does this mean exactly? It means you should quit holding so many meetings; unless there is a good reason to have one—like directly generating revenue or cost savings through making key decisions or a concrete action plan, your meeting may be a waste of time. The only meetings that should be held are ones that require a group to make a decision.