…and how we can fix it.
It is a sobering statistic: employees in healthcare, education, and government spend 20% to 30% of their time on meetings and administration. These figures, supported by recent data from the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and Statistics Netherlands (CBS), highlight a significant drain on productivity.
In a recent interview with Trouw (a Dutch newspaper), Professor Mathieu Weggeman exposes the painful truth at the heart of this: in the Netherlands, we don’t meet because we enjoy the company, we meet because managers often don’t trust their people.
Policing Instead of Empowering
Weggeman argues that many Dutch leaders – often trained as general managers rather than subject-matter experts – have an insatiable need for control. Because they don’t always grasp the technical nuances of the work, they cling to the tools that provide a sense of security: progress reports, time-tracking, and the ubiquitous weekly “catch-up” meeting.
The result? Professionals – doctors, teachers, policy advisors – waste precious hours proving they are doing their jobs instead of actually doing them.
The Yabbu Philosophy: Trust Through Transparency
At Yabbu, we believe there’s a better way. Weggeman’s analysis aligns perfectly with our mission. We see the traditional meeting used all too often as a “safety blanket” for the manager.
How do we break this cycle?
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Stop the “live” status update: A face-to-face meeting should never be about broadcasting information or simply hearing what has been done. That is administrative dead weight. In Yabbu, this happens asynchronously. Everyone stays informed without needing to block out an hour on the calendar.
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Focus on outcomes: Weggeman advocates for results-based management (“I need this finished by this date; how you get there is up to you”). Yabbu facilitates this by transforming the agenda from a list of “talking points” into a list of concrete decisions and actions.
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Restore autonomy: By allowing everyone to prepare in their own time, you give the professional their autonomy back. You no longer have to show up on command to justify your existence in a conference room; you share your expertise when it suits you, within the context of the decision-making process.
In short: build trust by informing one another well in advance and preparing complex choices beforehand. This creates space for the things that truly require discussion and well-considered decisions.
From “Billable Hours” to Real Impact
Weggeman rightly notes that we are champions at “performing useless tasks with extreme efficiency.” Attending a meeting where you have nothing to contribute is the ultimate example.
Yabbu wasn’t designed to make meetings “slightly better.” It was designed to reduce the need for physical gatherings by 50% to 80%. That isn’t a cutback on human connection; it’s an investment in trust.
The Challenge for Today’s Manager
Do you dare to let go of the reins? Do you trust your team’s expertise enough to replace the weekly “check-in” with a transparent, asynchronous process?
The true gain for a modern organisation isn’t found in tighter reporting, but in giving the day back to the people who do the work. By breaking the cycle of constant meetings rooted in distrust, we don’t just reduce stress – we tackle a much larger problem: the creeping stagnation of productivity that is currently paralyzing our sectors.
When we trade control for trust, we clear the path for what really matters: the unhindered craftsmanship and passion of the professional.
Curious how Yabbu can help your organization refocus on what matters?
Coming up next: The Battle for Productivity. While we are talking about work, our neighbouring countries are doing the work. In our next blog, we dive into the Rabobank report: why the Netherlands is falling behind and why fixing our meeting culture is the single biggest lever for our national prosperity.
