Nearly half of people in UAE fall asleep during meetings

Dubai - The UAE, in fact, led the way in the asleep-in-meeting stakes, a report said.

The UAE led the way with nearly half of people admit that they fell asleep during the business meetings, reveals a new survey released on Sunday.
Released by Barco ClickShare, the study revealed that nearly a third of respondents globally found that less than half of their meetings to be useful, while 30% also said they had dozed off in a meeting before.
"The UAE, in fact, led the way in the asleep-in-meeting stakes, with nearly half (45%) of all UAE respondents saying they'd fallen asleep in meetings," the report said.
The global study surveyed 2,250 senior business professionals from companies in the UAE, UK, US, Germany, and France, exploring their meeting experiences in day-to-day working life.
The survey revealed that checking e-mails and social media during meetings was also extremely common and another indication of disengagement and distraction.
In the UAE, over 80 per cent of respondents said they regularly checked emails during meetings, while close to 30% access social media. This compares to 70% and 37%, respectively, in the UK.
Tech troubles
Of the factors that impact engagement in meetings, technology was identified as one of the most influential. 67% of global respondents are regularly irritated by tech going wrong in meetings, with 4 in 10 feeling that their engagement would be affected by a failure in technology. Conversely, technology being correctly harnessed can improve engagement and productivity: 72% of respondents stated that the use of multimedia content in a presentation makes them feel more engaged.
There was a noticeable difference in comparisons between countries. German business people were the least affected by tech issues in meetings, whereas 55% of UAE-based respondents reported losing focus in meetings due to tech issues. The UK had a high propensity for tech issues also, with 48% reporting disengagement because of tech failure.
Food for thought
The study exposed the prominent role that food plays in engagement levels in meetings. Well over half of respondents admitted to attending meetings purely for the free food. While brain mapping showed that mood of attendees is enhanced by the presence of food, almost a third of business people surveyed said they were distracted by food in business meetings.
-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

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