Booked Solid at Work—or Checked Out?
Thirty-five percent of workers block out their calendars to avoid meetings or calls. Is it becoming an engagement epidemic?
The colleague tried to set up a meeting with an engineer on Monday, but he was all booked up. So she tried for Tuesday, but found it was completely booked up, too, as was Wednesday. It wasn’t long before it became clear that the engineer, who was not on vacation, had made himself unavailable for the entire week.
Though this case is extreme, blocking out time appears to be a growing problem across the corporate landscape—and the latest sign, experts say, of disengagement in the workforce. One study last year by hybrid-work-tech company Owl Labs found that 35% of workers purposely block out chunks of their calendars to “prevent clients and colleagues from taking over their time.” Among millennials, the number shoots up to 61%, creating a key clog in any firm’s effort to foster collaboration and innovation or respond to today’s rapidly changing conditions. “It can be really disruptive if everyone blocks out their calendars,” says David Napeloni, vice president of client services for global RPO at Korn Ferry. “Getting projects completed really depends on availability.”
Experts say that the attempt to avoid colleagues or meetings is becoming more common in a host of other strategies too, such as outdated out-of-office messages purposely left up, seemingly permanent “do not disturb” statuses on messaging apps, and “connection issues” in meetings. But for many observers, this development isn’t surprising, as workplace engagement has hit a half-decade low, with just 20% of employees engaged, according to Gallup. The Owl Labs survey, for its part, found that nearly a quarter of employees are sticking to “work-to-rule” tactics, such as doing no tasks outside of their job descriptions or working only during their defined hours.
But to some degree, experts say, leaders have only their own actions to blame for building up resentment that can lead to such behaviors. Promotions are much rarer, management layers have been slashed, and the specter of AI replacing entire jobs continues to loom. As burnout grows, avoidance creeps in. “Many people feel they can’t run away—so they pull inward,” says business psychologist Karen Huang, senior director of search assessment at Korn Ferry. Adds Napeloni, “Their time is being carved up in many different ways.”
Experts advise managers to begin by identifying the problem: Are other projects getting slowed down? Are teammates affected? Is communication actually getting scarcer—or is the person responsive, but just evading meetings? Next, managers should look for what’s causing the problem. “You want to work on that diagnosis a little,” says engagement expert Mark Royal, senior client partner at Korn Ferry.
Regardless of the cause, clear guidelines around outcomes and results are an essential part of the solution, Royal says. And savvy managers should give employees the chance to set their priorities and schedule as much as possible. “The idea is to let employees make decisions that lead them to feel that they have a say in their work lives,” says Huang.
Of course, every manager with an employee who’s dodging meetings would be smart to reevaluate the efficacy and efficiency of those meetings, says Jenna Young, head of client creative in the Culture, Change and Communications practice at Korn Ferry. “If more meetings had tight agendas, clear outcomes, and participation for all involved, you’d have better attendance,” she says.
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