By Adam Bajan

If there is one thing office workers dread more than almost anything else, it’s the dreaded Monday morning meeting. Many a seasoned worker has lain awake on a Sunday night, unable to rest, tossing and turning—while they wonder if they remembered to put a cover sheet on their TPS Report.

Enough Office Spaces jokes. Let’s get real for a moment.

Happiness Helps the Flow
The purpose of Monday morning meetings is to clearly outline the tasks at hand for the week. Boardrooms fill up, spreadsheets illuminate walls, and employees tap pencils and slurp coffee. It’s a scene repeated all across the world. It’s also no stretch of the imagination to say that even the promise of free donuts and hot drinks usually isn’t enough to change popular opinion that no-one likes the Monday Morning Meeting and that it’s a waste of time. Everyone has an opinion but what if there’s some truth in it?

Workplaces are built on a foundation of productivity and efficiency. This is why HR professionals the world over keep a constant vigil, working hard to ensure employees are comfortable, working hard, and, if possible, even a bit happy—because if employees are in a good mood, the work flows smoothly. Sure, conflicts inevitably arise and productivity fluctuates, (we’re human after all), but an efficient workplace is one where employees produce at a high output. Moreover, it doesn’t matter if the product of their labours are vehicles on an assembly line or strawberries in a field; if the flow is interrupted the product suffers.

Monday Meetings Under Fire
From a managerial perspective, Monday morning meetings are seen as the best way to start a work week off because, ideally, employees are fresh and well rested from the weekend. In a sense, a 9 a.m. Monday meeting is the polar opposite of a 4 p.m. Friday meeting. Night and day difference, right? Not so much. From an employee perspective, Monday mornings are where missed e-mails sent over the weekend are caught up on, anything that wasn’t finished by Friday is taken care of, and water cooler conversations occur. This is why the 9 a.m. huddle on Mondays is viewed in such a negative light and recent studies demonstrate this.

Technology and business magazine Fast Company for example, cites a recent interview with Keith Harris, chief technology officer at When Is Good, in which he states that the Monday morning meeting is one of the least efficient times to schedule a meeting as it is a time when the least number of employees are actually available.

“If you have a meeting at 9 a.m., employees will need to prepare the day before, or turn up underprepared,” said Harris in a recent interview. If they’re not prepared they may not even show up.”

Moving (or Cancelling) Monday Meetings
So if not first thing on a Monday, when is the best time to hold that start of week meeting? Well, the jury is still out on this, but a good emerging rule of thumb targets Monday afternoon around 3 p.m. or Tuesday mid-morning.

“The problem is that when employees are away from the office for an extended period like a weekend, they need time to readjust,” said Jabeen Boga, human resources consultant and faculty member at Ashton College. However, scheduling a meeting directly after lunch isn’t a great idea either, as employees can be a bit sluggish from their breaks. Catching them before lunch or during the early afternoon is usually the most efficient use of their time and the company’s.

Perhaps the strongest reason to delay that Monday morning meeting is that quite often it isn’t needed at all. If employees are well informed of their duties and responsibilities in a company, pulling them away from work they’re already involved in puts a damper on productivity.

In fact, a recent article by Forbes cites a productivity survey from the University of Irving, California in which it was found that productivity actually improves at 11am. Allowing employees to dedicate the first couple of hours of the work week to what they deem important really might very well be the smartest way to get the most from them.

After all, coffee and donuts taste good anytime.

Adam Bajan is a writer contracted to Ashton College, an accredited post-secondary institution providing professional development programs for busy people looking to upgrade their skill set and certifications.