Surprising Science of Meetings

A recent estimate suggests that employees endure a staggering 55 million meetings a day in the United States. This tremendous time investment yields only modest returns. No organization made up of human beings is immune from the all-too-common meeting gripes: those that fail to engage, those that inadvertently encourage participants to tune out, and those that blatantly disregard participants' time. Most companies and leaders view poor meetings as an inevitable cost of doing business. But managers can take heart: researchers now have a clear understanding of the key drivers that make meetings successful. In The Surprising Science of Meetings, Steven G. Rogelberg, researcher and consultant to some of the world's most successful companies, draws from extensive research, analytics and data mining, and survey interviews with over 5,000 employees across a range of industries to share the proven practices and techniques that help managers and employees enhance the quality of their meetings. For those who lead and participate in meetings, Rogelberg provides immediate direction, guidance, and relief, offering a how-to guide to change your working life starting today.

Steven G. Rogelberg holds the title of Chancellor's Professor at University of North Carolina, Charlotte, for distinguished national, international, and interdisciplinary contributions, and he is currently the elected Secretary General of the Alliance of Organizational Psychology. He has over 100 publications addressing issues such as meetings at work, team effectiveness, leadership, employee engagement, and organizational research methods; his research has been profiled in the Los Angeles Times, CBS News, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, NPR, Guardian, National Geographic, and Scientific American Mind, among others. In addition to his research and teaching, he consults for small and large organizations, including IBM, TIAA, Procter & Gamble, VF Corporation, Family Dollar, Siemens, and others. He has been a visiting scholar and guest speaker at universities around the world and is the editor of the Journal of Business and Psychology and the Talent Management Essentials book series. Dr. Rogelberg founded and currently directs large outreach initiatives focusing on nonprofit organization health and effectiveness with over 250 nonprofits served. He has been awarded the Humanitarian Award and Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Psi Chi Professor of the Year Award, the Master Teacher Award from Bowling Green State University, and the Humboldt Award.