Can We Do With More Efficient Meetings?

 

Walk into any government department and ask to see an officer. The standard reply is almost predictable: “He’s at a meeting.” Are work done through meetings? 

Anyway, meetings are supposed to solve problems, make decisions, and move organisations forward. But Malaysian civil service (or even private sector), meetings have become rituals held for their own sake. They are long, unfocused, repetitive, and often end with no decision made. Everyone walks out with the same unresolved issues they walked in with.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

 Why Are Our Meetings So Unproductive? 

1. Attendees come unprepared or half-prepared

Working papers are circulated, yet many participants arrive without reading them. Some flip through the documents only when the meeting begins. How can serious, in-depth decisions be made when the very people responsible for making them have not done the basic homework? 

2. The people in the room lack authority.

This is perhaps the biggest flaw. Too often, officers are sent as substitutes at the last minute — with no mandate to speak, decide, or commit. They are merely note takers. When decisions cannot be made, everything gets postponed to the next meeting… and then the next. 

3. Even the Chair is sometimes not ready.

A meeting cannot be productive when the person leading it has not previewed the working papers, has no clear agenda, or allows the discussion to wander. When the Chair is ineffective, the meeting becomes a talking shop (or a makan shop) instead of a decision-making platform. 

In my previous place of work, some members of the highest Credit Committee in the bank came to the meeting without reading the credit papers.  How do you know? By the way they flip the pages and the questions they ask. 

4. Newly formed “high-level committees” lose steam quickly.

At the first meeting, the big names show up. At the second, a few still attend. By the third, they send junior officers with no clout. The quality of discussion drops instantly, and the urgency that triggered the formation of the committee evaporates. 

5. Pre-council meetings

There is a tendency for the government officers to meet prior to any private sector party is invited into a meeting room. These pre-meetings are held on the same day and usually takes an hour or more before a proper meeting starts. This is highly inefficient. Private sector invitees are held-up for that one hour or more. Worse is when after the pre-meeting, the chairman decides to postpone the meeting because a key officer from a Ministry is unable to attend. He or she has another, more urgent meeting to attend. “Minta maaf” is not the answer. Somebody must pay! 

Today, few are held accountable for poor-quality proposals, sloppy preparation, or empty participation. And because promotions are rarely linked to effective performance at these committees, officers feel little pressure to contribute meaningfully. 

If Malaysia wants a more efficient government and private sector, we must rethink our meeting culture. Trim the number of committees. Reduce unnecessary meetings. Ensure attendees are prepared and are decision-makers. And hold meetings within a allocated time of say, one hour. 

The public deserves better than a system bogged down by endless, unproductive discussions. We must create a culture where meetings are not places to delay decisions, but platforms to make them. It’s time we raise the bar. 

Reference:

Streamlining Meetings: A Call for Real Change in the Way We Work, Pola Singh, https://newswav.com, 28 November 2025