W4_YN_Pareto Analysis

W4_YN_Pareto Analysis

Opportunity Statement

Meetings are an essential part of any business. They come in different forms depending on their purpose such as status update meetings, information sharing meetings, decision making meetings, and problem solving meetings. Work meetings, however, can be a significant source of time-wasting if not conducted properly.

Since the spot market project at OPWP is at its early stages, meetings are held quite frequently to accomplish various tasks. Therefore, it is essential that we eliminate the common sources of time-wasting during meetings in order to increase productivity and efficiency. In this blog, we shall conduct a Pareto analysis on the various ways that our staff may waste time during team meetings. Using the results of the analysis, we can work towards holding more productive meetings.

Feasible Alternatives

The main ways in which we waste time during team meetings are the following:

1)      Unnecessary meetings: often one-on-one conversations are more effective than holding a meeting.

2)      Too many attendees: only people relevant to the discussion should be invited.

3)      Unequal participation: input from all attendees should be sought rather than allowing one or two people to speak the whole time.

4)      No agenda: having no agenda may cause the meeting to go off track and eventually accomplish no purpose.

5)      Long meetings: it is hard to maintain people’s attention for two or three hours. Also, scheduling more time than needed leads people to fill that allotted with unnecessary discussions.

6)      Other: includes other causes that are less observed such as being under prepared for the meeting.

Outcomes of Feasible Alternatives

The different alternatives mentioned above will be analyzed using Pareto Analysis which utilizes the Pareto Principle. In our case, the Pareto Principle would propose that 80% of the time wasted during company meetings comes from 20% of the causes. Those specific causes can then be addressed closely to achieve the desired results.

Selection Criteria

Looking back at the meetings in which I was involved in the past two months, which were around 30 meetings, I can count the number of times in which each of the causes mentioned above led to a noticeable amount of time being wasted. The results of this is summarized in table 1 below.

Table 1: Input Data Summary

Cause	Frequency
Unnecessary meetings	5
Too many attendees	6
Unequal participation	9
No agenda	11
Long meetings	13
Other	4

Analysis and Comparison of the Alternatives

Using the input data from table 1 above, the frequency at which each of the causes was witnessed is used to calculate the percentage contribution of that cause. Using the percentage contribution, the cumulative percentage can be calculated until reaching one hundred percent. The data is summarized in table 2 below.

Table 2: Analysis Data Summary

Cause	Frequency	Percentage	Cumulative Percentage
Long meetings	13	27%	27%
No agenda	11	23%	50%
Unequal participation	9	19%	69%
Too many attendees	6	13%	81%
Unnecessary meetings	5	10%	92%
Other	4	8%	100%
total	48	-	-

Next, a Pareto Diagram is prepared as seen in figure 1 below using the data from Table 1.

Figure 1: Pareto Diagram

Preferred Alternative

As seen in figure 1 above, the 80% line crosses the cumulative percentage line at the cause of having “too many attendees”. Hence, 80% of the time wasted in team meetings can be attributed to the following causes:

1)      Long meetings

2)      No agenda

3)      Unequal participation

4)      Too many attendees

Therefore, in order to reach efficient and productive meetings and reduce the time being wasted, the above four factors should be addressed.  

Tracking and Reporting

In order to achieve productive meetings, the company should address the abovementioned factors. As we do so, we shall keep track of how effective and productive our meetings are in the future and how often those time-wasting causes appear. The Pareto Analysis should be done every three months to track the frequency at which the causes appear, and if their relative order changes in order to prioritize our efforts.

References

1)      Project Management Institute. (2013). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK guide. Newtown Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.

2)      Pareto Analysis Step by Step. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/pareto-analysis-step-by-step.php

3)      W8_YE_Using Pareto Chart Analysis. (2013, April 4). Retrieved from https://mercureaace2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/w8_ye_using-pareto-chart-analysis/

4)      The Six Most Common Types of Meetings - MeetingSift. (2017, July 20). Retrieved from http://meetingsift.com/the-six-types-of-meetings/

5)      Feloni, R. (2015, December 19). 7 reasons why your work meetings are a waste of time - and how to fix them. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/why-your-work-meetings-are-a-waste-of-time-2015-12

6)      10 ways you’re wasting time in meetings - Workopolis. (2017, February 16). Retrieved from https://hiring.workopolis.com/article/how-to-make-employees-hate-meetings-the-top-10-time-wasters/