Slide decks: The misaligned villain of meetings?

Abstract

Ineffective meetings are a barrier to organizational productivity, not to mention a major source of employee frustration. The perceived over or ineffective use of presentation software such as PowerPoint receives much of the scorn and has inspired organizational policies around its use. There is little empirical data, however, to help guide these decisions. The current study provides insight from talent management leaders on how their organizations use and restrict the use of slide decks in meetings. We surveyed 50 talent management leaders from large global organizations across industries. Despite the hype in the popular press, our data indicate that having a formal or informal policy around the use presentation software alone does not solve the meeting effectiveness dilemma. The misuse of PowerPoint and related tools is just one piece of a larger meeting effectiveness issue. Organizations need to fundamentally rethink how they meet and work together.