Meetings may be one of the most disliked parts of work, but new research suggests they could play an important role in how employees learn and advance.
A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper analyzed more than 9,000 workers in Norway, linking survey responses with employer-employee administrative data. It found that meetings account for an average of 12% of workers’ hours and 14% of firms’ wage bills.
The research found that planning, problem-solving, information sharing and project coordination make up most meeting activity.
More meetings were linked to higher wage growth
The study found a positive relationship between meeting frequency and intensity and worker wage growth. Employees at meeting-intensive companies also reported greater on-the-job learning.
Interactions with more senior colleagues were particularly associated with stronger wage growth, suggesting that meetings may help transfer knowledge and experience within organizations.
The relationship was also present at firms where employee time carries a higher opportunity cost. High-paying and high-revenue companies devoted more resources to meetings despite the greater cost of pulling employees away from other work.
Meetings may have a hidden payoff
The findings suggest that meetings can serve purposes that are difficult to capture through productivity measures alone. Time spent coordinating projects, solving problems and learning from more experienced colleagues may contribute to workers’ longer-term development.
The research does not establish that meetings cause higher wages. But it does point to a link between meeting-intensive workplaces, greater learning and stronger wage growth, complicating the idea that cutting meetings is automatically beneficial.
