Are Some Meetings Fake Work for Managers?

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

I recently listened to an interesting podcast from Michael Hyatt, a leadership thought leader, on the topic of fake work. Fake work is described as activities that don’t move your leadership work forward but can be significant time wasters. Hyatt contends that many of the meetings we attend are fake work where nothing is really accomplished and your presence may not even be needed. He points to a Harvard Business Review study where 65% of managers report that meetings get in the way of them completing essential administrative responsibilities. 71% indicated that the meetings they attended were unproductive and inefficient. Yet at the same time, managers feel administrative pressure to be present at these meetings.

I think Hyatt makes a good point. A significant frustration for many leaders is the number of meetings held in their organizations or health systems that they are expected to attend. Managing time is challenging for nurse leaders in today’s environment. Many leaders struggle with trying to be everywhere. It is important early in your leadership tenure to gain clarity on which meetings are essential for you to attend personally and which ones are not.

Some leaders believe that the only way they can stay in the loop in their organizations is to personally attend all the meetings that are scheduled. They have a fear of missing out (FOMO). While going to many meetings may make you feel important, it may not be the best allocation of your time. It could end up being fake work that does not impact the outcomes of your unit goals or meet staff needs. It keeps you busy but not really in a productive way. You need to learn to give yourself permission to decline meetings. Some other suggestions about meetings include the following:

Always ask for the agenda in advance and ask yourself whether you really need to be there. Perhaps the meeting could be attended by another staff member or maybe you only need to be present for part of the meeting.
When you do attend – be present and engaged. Put away your smartphone. When we are frustrated at meetings, the easiest path is often just to disengage from what is being discussed. A second path is to endlessly complain that nothing is being accomplished even though we ourselves are not contributing any outcomes. Neither approach enhances our image as leaders.
Avoid being the one who convenes an unnecessary Determine whether there is there another way to reach a decision such as an email or a phone call.

Give yourself permission to evaluate the need to attend meetings that are on your schedule. Keep in mind that many meetings may have little or nothing to do with your actual administrative responsibilities. No one will put boundaries around your work except you. So start by eliminating the fake work so you can do the real work.