Why PR pros leave online meetings early

According to the study, 44 percent of respondents have already broken off an existing meeting prematurely due to another appointment. Whether it's a bad Internet connection, dead batteries or other computer problems: For almost as many PR professionals, non-functioning technology has led to an abortion (43 percent). Respondents were hardly less likely to cite important tasks that they had to complete at short notice and therefore had to leave meetings early (40 percent).

The larger the company, the more frequently pressure to meet deadlines leads to a cancellation: at smaller companies (under 50 employees), only one in three media office employees has ever cancelled a meeting because of a topic coming in at short notice (34 percent). At large companies (over 1,000 employees), a task that had to be dealt with quickly was already the reason for one in two respondents to walk out of a current meeting (56 percent).

A good one in five communications professionals have already left an online meeting prematurely because it went nowhere (23 percent). Six out of ten respondents have been interrupted by the letter carrier at the front door or by superiors (17 percent each). Interruptions by bosses occur much more frequently in companies than in PR agencies (22 percent to 6 percent).

Every now and then, children are the reason for termination: one in seven of those surveyed has already ended a meeting because their offspring burst in (14 percent). Craftsmen are less often the cause: Not even one in ten has left an online meeting prematurely because of noisy work in or around the house (8 percent).

On the other hand, feeling ill or unwell hardly ever leads to an abortion: a meager 3 percent state that they have ever left an online meeting prematurely for this reason. Stress about the course of a meeting is also not a reason to drop out: Only a tiny 2 percent have ever pressed the "end" button because they were annoyed.

At least one in ten communications professionals sits out virtual meetings via zoom, teams and the like until the end: 11 percent have never ended an online meeting earlier than planned. Here, too, there are significant differences between companies and PR agencies: while only 9 percent of respondents from companies have never left an online meeting prematurely, 17 percent of PR agencies have always been there until the end.

10 reasons why PR pros leave online meetings early

• Other Meeting 44%
• Technique 43%
• Urgent topic comes in at short notice 40%
• Meeting leads nowhere 23%
• Letter carrier 17%
• Interruption by superiors 17%
• Children 14%
• Craftsman 8%
• Malaise 3%
• Meeting trouble 2%
• I have never left a meeting early. 11%

For the PR Trend Monitor the DPA subsidiary News Aktuell and Faktenkontor asked communications professionals and executives in Germany and Switzerland why they had ever left an online meeting early. 224 communications professionals from Switzerland and Germany took part in the survey.