Key Takeaways
- A new working paper found that workers who attend more meetings may also experience stronger wage growth and career momentum.
- Among the work activities studied, time spent in meetings was the strongest predictor of wage growth.
- The findings show correlation, not causation: Attending extra meetings will not automatically earn someone a raise.
Is your calendar packed with back-to-back meetings? Recent research suggests that employees who spend more time in meetings might be the ones seeing the biggest pay increases and career advancements. This insight comes from a collaborative working paper by researchers at Harvard University and the Norwegian School of Economics, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The study, titled “Meetings”, draws on an original survey of over 9,000 workers to provide the first large-scale economic evidence on workplace meetings.
The researchers liken meetings to “the broccoli of work” — widely disliked by employees but potentially beneficial in the long run. Despite their reputation for being time-consuming and often frustrating, meetings consume about 12% of average work hours, representing a significant investment of time and resources.
Interestingly, the study reveals a positive correlation between the frequency and intensity of meetings and wage growth. When comparing various workday activities such as email correspondence, solo tasks, and meetings, time spent in meetings emerged as the strongest predictor of receiving a raise. Harvard economist David Deming, one of the paper’s authors, explained that companies with more meetings tend to be more successful overall, and workers engaged in more meetings often experience greater wage growth and career success.
In practical terms, this means that those who regularly participate in status updates, brainstorming sessions, and quick synchronization meetings may be signaling their increasing value to their organizations.
Having More Meetings Will Not Automatically Increase Your Pay
It’s important to clarify that simply attending more meetings does not guarantee a salary boost. The study highlights correlation but stops short of proving causation — in other words, piling on extra meetings won’t automatically translate into higher wages. Instead, meeting-heavy schedules often reflect engagement in work that is more complex and impactful, requiring specialized knowledge and collaboration.
Deming notes that employees who spend more time in meetings are typically central to their company’s operations or involved in roles demanding coordination across teams. The researchers examined various markers of workplace interaction, including total meeting time, meetings on in-office days, meeting frequency, and active collaboration. Among these, total time spent in meetings had the clearest and strongest connection to wage growth.
“Meetings are the cost you have to pay to organize and coordinate highly specialized, complex production,” Deming said. “Whether it’s producing output for a client or shipping a product or whatever it is, a lot of people have a lot of different assignments and some complicated work stream. And the only way to get them all on the same page is to have meetings.”
Despite the positive correlation, many workers still question the value of meetings. The study found that 60% of workers who regularly attend meetings spend over an hour per workday in them. Furthermore, a recent Resume Now survey showed that 64% of workers believe only about half or fewer of their meetings are productive.
For those aiming to maximize the value of meetings, focusing on quality over quantity is essential. Meetings should facilitate meaningful collaboration, decision-making, and alignment rather than becoming routine time-fillers. When used effectively, meetings can foster communication and coordination that drive both individual career growth and organizational success.
For further reading and detailed analysis, visit the original source Here.
