10 Meeting Metrics Every Manager Should Track

Great managers know that incredible meetings are the key to a successful team. When a group of employees can gather to brainstorm ideas, collaborate on projects, and work through challenges efficiently, profits rise and employee morale soars! 

However, meeting effectiveness can be difficult to measure without the right metrics. Regularly tracking meeting metrics is one way that leaders can ensure employees are getting the most from their sessions. 

Read on to learn about meeting metrics, see why you should collect meeting metrics, and explore the 10 types of meeting metrics you can track regularly. 

• What are meeting metrics? 
• Why should you collect meeting metrics?
• 10 meeting metrics managers should track
• How to track meeting metrics with Fellow

What are meeting metrics? 

Meeting metrics are quantitative assessment measures commonly used to assess, compare, and track performance during meetings. By tracking the efficacy of meetings, teams can assess the effectiveness of their operations and more easily reach strategic objectives. Metrics can also tell you where your business is underperforming and where to concentrate your improvement efforts. 

Why should you collect meeting metrics? 

Meetings are synonymous with work culture. While they can be an important tool for brainstorming, decision making, and delegating, they can also halt productivity when done incorrectly. Too many meetings with little structure are bound to slow down your team. 

Collecting metrics can help you take control of your meetings so you can make decisions that enhance the effectiveness of your entire team. They also allow us to answer critical questions such as, “How effective is our strategy?” and “Are we on track to reach our goals?”

10 meeting metrics managers should track 

• Attendance
• Meeting agendas
• Time planned vs. time spent
• Action items assigned
• Action items completed
• Meeting feedback
• Meeting ROI
• Meeting size
• Meeting length
• Meeting format

1Attendance

Team growth and cohesion will increase when employees attend regular team meetings. Regular meeting attendance helps employees stay up to date on tasks, projects, and updates. Tracking the number of meeting attendees versus invitees can show you where you need to improve. You can also track how many meetings the whole team has attended, take note of who arrives on time, and see who frequently misses sessions. Using attendance metrics, you can address the underlying causes of issues like tardiness and build a meeting culture that benefits everyone. 

2Meeting agendas 

Meeting agendas are the key to running successful meetings. They help individuals and teams make better decisions, plan projects, and set goals. Track for how many meetings you use a meeting agenda versus how many you don’t and see if you notice any trends. You will likely discover that meetings with a detailed agenda were more productive and led to better overall outcomes than ones without an agenda. 

You don’t have to create meeting agendas from scratch! Use one of Fellow’s 500+ ready-to-use meeting templates to prepare for team meetings and one-on-ones, record decisions, and keep everyone accountable. 

3Time planned vs. time spent

Just because you plan to chat about an item for a specified period of time during a meeting doesn’t mean you must fill that time. Within each meeting agenda, note how long you believe each topic or item will take to discuss. Then, track how long it actually takes the group to brainstorm ideas and determine the next steps. Determine if the team stuck to the allotted time frame and whether certain items take up more meeting time than others. 

4Action items assigned 

See how many action items you delegated to employees versus how many meetings you hosted to see if you’re making the most of each session. Count how many action items you create in a meeting and how many have been completed since the previous meeting. This should let you know whether you’re allowing enough time between meetings for colleagues to complete tasks and make meaningful progress toward group objectives. 

5Action items completed 

Record how many action items you completed since your last meeting or since you began having meetings regarding specific topics. Try tracking the ages of various action items on your team’s to-do list and compare this to the average amount of time it takes a member of your team to complete a task. If an item is taking longer than necessary, it may be an indication that an internal system or process requires improvement. You may also realize that certain tasks that take a long time to check off aren’t high-priority items and can be discarded to make room for more important ones. 

6Meeting feedback 

Tracking meeting feedback can be helpful for managers who want to understand how valuable meetings are and how to improve them for everyone. Begin by normalizing feedback during each meeting and incorporating opportunities for employees to give and receive it during and after each session. Ask questions during meetings about projects and ask that employees come prepared with suggestions on how to improve the team’s work. Send a post-meeting survey to better understand the value (or lack thereof) that the meeting brought your participants. Not sure what to ask? Check out our blog post on 20 post-meeting survey questions you can ask your employees today!

Fellow enables your team to share real-time feedback on meetings, projects, and performance.  Use our tool to keep a history of the feedback you exchange and visualize your growth. 

7Meeting ROI

When you think of return on investment (ROI), you probably imagine the positive financial impact of your work. There are a few key benefits to tracking each meeting’s ROI as well! It can help you confirm that the meeting’s objectives are being met and make adjustments to your meetings as needed. 

The best way to get started is by using our meeting cost calculator to see how must it’s costing to bring your team together! Then, use this information to determine if the cost of each meeting is worth the value your team gets from them.

8Meeting size

On one hand, if a meeting has too many attendees, it may be difficult for employees to have efficient conversations. On the other hand, too few meeting attendees can lead to low employee engagement and knowledge silos. Track metrics like the number of attendees at each meeting, how many attendees are from different teams, and how many attendees there are at meetings with a high ROI. 

Tracking meeting sizes should help you determine the ideal number of participants to include in future sessions. For example, you may learn that meetings with over eight attendees are less productive overall and decide to host smaller meetings moving forward. 

9Meeting length

Tracking the length of your meetings can help optimize your attendees’ schedules and expectations. Take note of how many of your meetings start and end on time. Write down the average length of your meetings versus how much time you spend working through action items, making decisions, and determining the next steps. 

Meeting length metrics will show you how long is optimal for each type of meeting. For example, an internal company experiment conducted at Fellow showed that scheduling meetings for shorter durations—specifically, 50 or 25 minutes instead of 60 and 30 minutes—greatly improved meeting efficiency and attendee focus. 

10Meeting format 

Meetings come in a variety of formats—from brainstorming sessions and Q&As to roundtables, sprints, one-on-ones, and more. You may also use several meeting software like Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams, alongside any in-person meetings. Track which formats your team uses for regular meetings and how effective each has been. Recording the formats of your meetings can show you exactly which formats work for your team and which you can swap out for new ones. 

Did you know that you don’t have to toggle between multiple tools to take notes during remote meetings? When you integrate Fellow with Google Chrome, you can access your meeting notes right inside your Google Meet calls and Google Calendar! 

How to track meeting metrics with Fellow 

Gain insight into your company’s meeting productivity patterns using Fellow’s Analytics feature. Using our tool, you can bring important meeting and collaboration patterns to the forefront to identify setbacks and create processes that improve productivity. 

Understanding your organization’s meeting culture is the first step to improving meeting efficiency. Fellow’s Analytics tab shows you how many hours your employees spend in meetings so you can determine where to scale back. It can also show you how many company meetings lacked agendas or meeting notes and therefore were at risk of being ineffective. 

Parting advice

The late management expert Peter Drucker once said, “What is measured, improves.”

Implementing and monitoring meeting metrics can encourage continuous improvement and offer valuable insights to improve the overall effectiveness of your team. Tracking meeting metrics can also increase employee engagement, improve collaboration, and help you and your colleagues make better decisions. If you ever question the value of your meetings, begin using meeting metrics to better your team’s work.