This Meeting Could Have Been An Email became corporate culture’s defining complaint as office workers worldwide united in hatred of pointless meetings that wasted hours delivering information that fit in three sentences.
The Grievance
The fundamental frustration:
- 1-hour meeting scheduled
- Only conveys simple information
- Could have been email/Slack message
- Forces synchronous time waste
- Often has no agenda
Meetings became symbol of corporate inefficiency.
The Scale
Meeting culture statistics (pre-COVID):
- Average office worker: 31 hours monthly in meetings
- 50%+ of meetings: Attendees multitask
- 90% of people: Daydream during meetings
- 73%: Do other work during meetings
The waste was astronomical.
The Types
Meetings that should be emails:
- Status updates: Everyone reports progress
- Announcements: Information broadcast
- FYI meetings: No decisions needed
- Recap meetings: Summarizing what happened
- Check-ins: “Just touching base”
All easily handled asynchronously.
The Phrase Evolution
“This meeting could have been an email” became:
- Office meme: Posted on cubicle walls
- Slack reactions: After meeting invites
- Passive-aggressive comment: During meetings
- Career advice: “Decline meetings, send emails”
- Productivity wisdom: Shared constantly
The phrase captured universal frustration.
The Meeting Culture Critique
The broader issues meetings revealed:
- Managers justifying existence: Creating meetings to appear busy
- Lack of agenda: Meetings without clear purpose
- Too many attendees: Including people unnecessarily
- Poor time respect: Starting late, running over
- Decision avoidance: Meetings to schedule meetings
Meetings became proxy for dysfunctional corporate culture.
The Alternatives
Proposed solutions:
- Async communication: Email, Slack, Loom videos
- Meeting-free days: No meetings Wednesdays
- Standing meetings: Finish faster
- Amazon’s 2-pizza rule: If 2 pizzas can’t feed attendees, too many
- Default 25/50 min: Buffer between meetings
Some companies implemented reforms.
The COVID Shift
2020 pandemic:
- All meetings became Zoom
- “Zoom fatigue” replaced meeting fatigue
- Screen time worse than in-person
- Meeting culture intensified
- Cameras-on expectations added layer
The problem evolved but didn’t improve.
The Memes
“Meeting could have been email” spawned:
- Venn diagrams: Necessary meetings vs. actual meetings
- Comics: Office workers suffering through pointless meetings
- TikToks: Acting out meaningless meetings
- Templates: “Meeting bingo” cards
The mockery was therapeutic.
The Power Dynamics
Meetings revealed hierarchy:
- Executives called meetings (their time more valuable?)
- Individual contributors couldn’t decline
- Middle managers filled days with meetings
- Maker schedule destroyed by meeting culture
The asymmetry was frustrating.
The Productivity Loss
Meeting costs were real:
- 10 people × 1 hour = 10 hours lost
- Context switching cost
- Recovery time post-meeting
- Preparation time pre-meeting
- Opportunity cost (deep work impossible)
The economic waste was staggering.
The Calendar Tetris
Meeting culture created:
- Fragmented calendars
- No contiguous focus time
- Back-to-back meetings
- Lunch meetings
- Meeting prep eating other time
Knowledge workers’ schedules became impossible.
The Email Evolution
Ironically, “email” in phrase became nostalgic:
- Email better than Slack chaos
- Email better than Zoom meetings
- Async communication undervalued
- Written communication clearer
Email became the hero.
The Resistance
Ways people fought meeting culture:
- “Tentative” responses (soft no)
- Declining without explanation
- Leaving early
- Not attending
- Sending delegate
- Calendar blocking for “focus time”
The rebellion was quiet but persistent.
The Manager Defense
Managers argued meetings necessary for:
- Collaboration
- Team building
- Quick decisions
- Nuanced discussion
- Reading room (Zoom = harder)
Some justifications were valid; most weren’t.
The Legacy
By 2023, “meeting could have been email” remained:
- Universal office complaint
- Symbol of corporate dysfunction
- Productivity advice cornerstone
- Async work movement rallying cry
The phrase outlived COVID because meeting culture outlived everything.
The ultimate truth: If you’re reading this in a meeting right now, it definitely could have been an email.
Source: Workplace productivity studies, corporate culture analysis, meeting statistics