Human Resources
Vampire Meetings: Sucking the Life Out of Productivity – How to spot (and stake) energy-draining workplace practices
How many times have you heard, or said yourself, “this meeting could have been an email?” Studies show that over 50% of meetings are seen as unproductive or wasted time, with some employees spending up to 31 hours a month in meetings that don’t move the needle. Add to that the fact that 70% of meetings have unclear objectives, and it’s easy to see why energy drains quickly.
At Exude Human Capital, we often see organizations unknowingly losing hours each week to unproductive meetings. Even small changes to meeting structures can have a big impact on engagement, productivity, and overall team morale.
Meetings that aren’t really needed or have unclear objectives drain energy instead of fueling progress. Not all meetings are bad, but the wrong ones can bleed teams dry.
- Signs of a Vampire Meeting
- The Hidden Costs of a Vampire Meeting
- How To Spot a Vampire Meeting
- How To Avoid a Vampire Meeting
- Productive Alternative Practices
- Bringing Meetings Back to Life
Signs of a Vampire Meeting:
- No agenda or objectives
- Repetitive topics
- Dominated by a few voices
- Everyone multitasking or disengaged
- No decisions or follow-ups
These are meetings where employees either don’t see or don’t actually get any value. They do little to move the organization’s mission forward, creeping in quietly and draining productivity.
The Hidden Costs of a Vampire Meeting:
- Loss of time (key hours that could be used for priority needs)
- Lower morale
- Decision fatigue
- Burnout from constant interruptions
Constant meeting interruptions can break concentration, stunt innovation, and create fatigue. The result is lost time, lost energy, and ultimately lost money.
How to Spot a Vampire Meeting:
Ask yourself and your team:
- Could this meeting be an email update?
- Do people leave with clarity or more confusion?
- Is the same ground covered meeting after meeting with no progress?
- Do attendees feel energized afterward?
- Are the right people in the room?
A quick calendar audit using these questions can reveal which meetings are energy drains, and which are mission-critical. For an even deeper look at how meetings, and other workplace practices, impact your team’s energy and engagement, consider conducting an employee engagement survey. This gives you data-driven insights to pinpoint pain points and uncover opportunities to improve collaboration, communication, and productivity.
How to “Stake” (Avoid) a Vampire Meeting:
Based on our experience advising clients across industries, there are practical ways to reclaim meeting time and restore team energy.
- Start with a clear agenda designed to move work and decisions forward
- Ensure that all attendees are present for a clear purpose
- If it’s just a status update, ask yourself if it can be sent electronically instead of gathering everyone live
- Keep meetings short and focused
- Assign roles (facilitator, note-taker, etc.)
- End every meeting with very clear next steps (owners, tasks, deadlines)
If a meeting doesn’t move the mission forward or produce actionable next steps, it’s likely a vampire meeting draining valuable time.
Not every leader is automatically the best and most engaging facilitator. We believe that every good leader, needs a good coach. Engage an external coach to help your leaders become inspiring, engaging facilitators, and let us help your organization implement solutions from designing purposeful agendas to guiding leaders in running efficient, impactful meetings.
Sunlight Solutions (Productive Alternative Practices):
- Skip the meeting – share updates from the shadows (email updates, Slack/Teams updates) that don’t need to be discussions, just informed updates
- Use short, agile 10-15 minute stand-up huddles instead of long status calls
- Rotate meeting facilitators to keep sessions fresh and engaging
- Maximize participation so all voices are heard
- Implement meeting free days so people have more time to focus on their work and not have constant interruptive meetings
Bringing Meetings Back to Life:
Meetings should be purposeful, not dreaded. People should leave with clarity, focus, and a sense of progress, not more questions or frustration.
- Go through your calendar for vampire meetings – can you eliminate them and make them electronic updates instead? Can you shorten the duration or cadence? Are the right people on the meetings that really need to be?
- Ask your team to audit their calendars for vampire meetings
- Ask your team what’s sucking the life out of meetings and their productivity
- Engage your team in rethinking meetings that inspire energy and purpose
The cure for vampire meetings isn’t garlic or daylight – it’s intention. Trim the fluff, focus on purpose, and watch your team’s energy rise from zombie to engaged. If a meeting isn’t moving the mission forward, it’s not just wasting time, it’s draining your team and impacting productivity far beyond the meeting itself.
If you’re ready to stake the vampire meetings in your workplace and re-energize your team, Exude Human Capital partners with organizations to empower leaders, build team collaboration and create a culture where time is spent on what truly matters.
