Blame your worthless workdays on meeting recovery syndrome
A) Phyllis Hartman knows what it's like to make one's way through the depths of office meeting hell. Managers at one of her former human resources jobs arranged so many meetings that attendees would fall asleep at the table or intentionally arrive late. With hours of her day blocked up with unnecessary meetings, she was often forced to make up her work during overtime. “I was actually working more hours than I probably would have needed to get the work done, "says Hartman, who is founder and president of PGHR Consulting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
B) She isn't alone in her frustration. Between 11 million and 55 million meetings are held each day in the United States, costing most organisations between 7% and 15% of their personnel budgets. Every week, employees spend about six hours in meetings, while the average manager meets for a staggering 23 hours.
C) And though experts agree that traditional meetings are essential for making certain decisions and developing strategy, some employees view them as one of the most unnecessary parts of the workday. The result is not only hundreds of billions of wasted dollars, but an annoyance of what organisational psychologists call“meeting recovery syndrome (MRS)”: time spent cooling off and regaining focus after a useless meeting. If you run to the office kitchen to get some relief with colleagues after a frustrating meeting, you' re likely experiencing meeting recovery syndrome.
D) Meeting recovery syndrome is a concept that should be familiar to almost anyone who has held a formal job. It isn't ground-breaking to say workers feel fatigued after a meeting, but only in recent decades have scientists deemed the condition worthy of further investigation. With its links to organisational efficiency and employee wellbeing,MRS has attracted the attention of psychologists aware of the need to understand its precise causes and cures
E) Today, in so far as researchers can hypothesise,MRS is most easily understood as a slow renewal of finite mental and physical resources. When an employee sits through an ineffective meeting their brain power is essentially being drained away. Meetings drain vitality if they last too long, fail to engage employees or turn into one-sided lectures. The conservation of resources theory, originally proposed in 1989 by Dr Stevan Hobfoll, states that psychological stress occurs when a person's resources are threatened or lost. When resources are low,a person will shift into defence to conserve their remaining supply. In the case of office meetings, where some of employees' most valuable resources are their focus, alertness and motivation, this can mean an abrupt halt in productivity as they take time to recover.
F) As humans, when we transition from one task to another on the job— say from sitting in a meeting to doing normal work— it takes an effortful cognitive switch. We must detach ourselves from the previous task and expend significant mental energy to move on. If we are already drained to dangerous levels, then making the mental switch to the next thing is extra tough. It's common to see people cyber-loafing after a frustrating meeting, going and getting coffee, interrupting a colleague and telling them about the meeting, and so on.
G) Each person's ability to recover from horrible meetings is different. Some can bounce back quickly, while others carry their fatigue until the end of the workday. Yet while no formal MRS studies are currently underway, one can loosely speculate on the length of an average employee's lag time. Switching tasks in a non-MRS condition takes about 10 to 15 minutes. With MRS, it may take as long as 45 minutes on average It's even worse when a worker has several meetings that are separated by 30 minutes. “Not enough time to transition in a non-MRS situation to get anything done, and in an MRS situation, not quite enough time to recover for the next meeting, "says researcher Joseph Allen. “Then, add the compounding of back-to-back bad meetings and we may have an epidemic on our hands.”
H) In an effort to combat the side effects of MRS, Allen, along with researcher Joseph Mroz and colleagues at the university of Nebraska-Omaha, published a study detailing the best ways to avoid common traps, including a concise checklist of do's and don' ts applicable to any workplace. drawing from around 200 papers to compile their comprehensive list, Mroz and his team may now hold a remedy to the largely undefined problem of MRS..
I) Mroz says a good place to start is asking ourselves if our meetings are even necessary in the first place. If all that's on the agenda is a quick catch-up, or some non-urgent information sharing, it may better suit the group to send around an email instead. “The second thing I would always recommend is keep the meeting as small as possible, "says Mroz. “If they don't actually have some kind of immediate input, then they can follow up later. They don't need to be sitting in this hour-long meeting. "Less time in meetings would ultimately lead to more employee engagement in the meetings they do attend, which experts agree is a proven remedy for MRS.
J) Employees also feel taxed when they are invited together to meetings that don't inspire participation, says Cliff Scott, professor of organisational science. It takes precious time for them to vent their emotions, complain and try to regain focus after a pointless meeting— one of the main traps of MRS. Over time as employees find themselves tied up in more and more unnecessary meetings— and thus dealing with increasing lag times from MRS— the waste of workday hours can feel insulting.
K) despite the relative scarcity of research behind the subject, Hartman has taught herself many of the same tricks suggested in Mroz's study, and has come a long way since her days of being stuck with unnecessary meetings. The people she invites to meetings today include not just the essential employees, but also representatives from every department that might have a stake in the issue at hand. Managers like her, who seek input even from non-experts to shape their decisions, can find greater support and cooperation from their workforce, she says.
L) If an organisation were to apply all 22 suggestions from Mroz and Allen's findings, the most noticeable difference would be a stark decrease in the total number of meetings on the schedule, Mroz says. Less time in meetings would ultimately lead to increased productivity, which is the ultimate objective of convening a meeting. While none of the counter-MRS ideas have been tested empirically yet, Allen says one trick with promise is for employees to identify things that quickly change their mood from negative to positive. As simple as it sounds, finding a personal happy place, going there and then coming straight back to work might be key to facilitating recovery.
M) Leaders should see also themselves as“stewards of everyone ease' s valuable time”, adds Steven Rogelberg, author of The Surprising science of Meetings. Having the skills to foresee potential traps and treat employees' endurance with care allows leaders to provide effective short-term deterrents to MRS.
N) Most important, however, is for organisations to awaken to the concept of meetings being flexible, says Allen.By reshaping the way they prioritise employees' time, companies can eliminate the very sources of MRS in their tracks
36. Although employees are said to be fatigued by meetings, the condition has not been considered worthy of further research until recently.
37. Mroz and his team compiled a list of what to do and what not to do to remedy the problem of MRS
38. Companies can get rid of the root cause of MRS if they give priority to workers' time.
39. If workers are exhausted to a dangerous degree, it is extremely hard for them to transition to the next task.
40. Employees in America spend a lot of time attending meetings while the number of hours managers meet is several times more.
41. Phyllis Hartman has learned by herself many of the ways Mroz suggested in his study and made remarkable success in freeing herself from unnecessary meetings.
42. When meetings continue too long or don't engage employees, they deplete vitality.
43. When the time of meetings is reduced, employees will be more engaged in the meetings they do participate in.
44. Some employees consider meetings one of the most dispensable parts of the workday.
45. according to Mroz, if all his suggestions were applied,a very obvious change would be a steep decrease in the number of meetings scheduled.
答案解析：
36. 由题干中的关键词 fatigued (疲劳的) 和 worthy of further research (值得进一步研究) 定位到 D段。D段提到，It isn't ground-breaking to say workers feel fatigued after a meeting, but only in recent decades have scientists deemed the condition worthy of further investigation (说员工在会议后感到疲劳并不算什么突破性发现，但直到最近几十年，科学家们才认为这种情况值得进一步研究)，所以选 D。
37. 由题干中的关键词 Mroz 和 list of what to do and what not to do 定位到 H段。H段提到，Allen, along with researcher Joseph Mroz and colleagues... published a study detailing the best ways to avoid common traps, including a concise checklist of do's and don' ts (艾伦与研究员约瑟夫·姆罗兹及其同事……发表了一项研究，详细说明了避免常见陷阱的最佳方法，包括一份简明的“该做和不该做”的清单)，所以选 H。
38. 由题干中的关键词 root cause (根本原因) 和 priority to workers' time (优先考虑员工的时间) 定位到 N段。N段提到，By reshaping the way they prioritise employees' time, companies can eliminate the very sources of MRS in their tracks (通过重塑他们优先考虑员工时间的方式，公司可以当场消除MRS的根源)，所以选 N。
39.由题干中的关键词 exhausted to a dangerous degree (精疲力竭到危险的程度) 和 transition to the next task (转换到下一个任务) 定位到 F段。F段提到，If we are already drained to dangerous levels, then making the mental switch to the next thing is extra tough (如果我们已经被消耗到危险的水平，那么转换到下一件事的心理切换就格外困难)，所以选 F。
40.由题干中的关键词 Employees in America 和 managers meet 定位到 B段。B段提到，Every week, employees spend about six hours in meetings, while the average manager meets for a staggering 23 hours (每周，员工大约花6小时开会，而普通经理的开会时间则高达23小时)，所以选 B。
41.由题干中的关键词 Phyllis Hartman 和 learned by herself (自学) 定位到 K段。K段提到，Hartman has taught herself many of the same tricks suggested in Mroz's study, and has come a long way since her days of being stuck with unnecessary meetings (哈特曼自学了姆罗兹研究中提到的许多相同技巧，自从摆脱了不必要会议的日子以来，她已经取得了长足的进步)，所以选 K。
42. 由题干中的关键词 continue too long 和 deplete vitality (消耗活力) 定位到 E段。E段提到，Meetings drain vitality if they last too long, fail to engage employees or turn into one-sided lectures (如果会议时间过长、未能吸引员工参与或变成单向的讲座，它们就会消耗活力)，所以选 E。
43. 由题干中的关键词 time of meetings is reduced (会议时间减少) 和 more engaged (更投入) 定位到 I段。I段提到，Less time in meetings would ultimately lead to more employee engagement in the meetings they do attend (减少会议时间最终会提高员工在他们确实参加的会议中的参与度)，所以选 I。
44.由题干中的关键词 dispensable (非必需的) 定位到 C段。C段提到，some employees view them as one of the most unnecessary parts of the workday (一些员工认为它们是工作日中最不必要的部分之一)，unnecessary 与 dispensable 意思相近，所以选 C。
45.由题干中的关键词 Mroz 和 steep decrease (急剧下降) 定位到 L段。L段提到，the most noticeable difference would be a stark decrease in the total number of meetings on the schedule (最显著的变化将是日程上会议总数的急剧减少)，所以选 L。
