For decades, “reunionitis” was a somewhat clichéd office illness, exemplified by windowless conference rooms and lukewarm coffee. We laughed about it among colleagues, we complained about it at the coffee machine. But with the widespread use of hybrid work, what was once an inconvenience has become public enemy number one.
In 2026, as our living rooms have become annexes of the company, the line between collaboration and saturation has been shattered. The meeting is no longer a moment of exchange, it has become, for many, an obstacle to the work itself.
1. The paradox of visibility: “I unite, therefore I am”
Why, when we have high-performance asynchronous communication tools, has the number of videoconferences exploded by 60% in three years? The answer is sadly human: the fear of heights and the need for control.
In a hybrid model, where the manager no longer sees his teams physically, the meeting has become the crutch of trust.
- The number: According to a recent study by Microsoft Work Trend Indexan executive spends on average 18 hours per week in virtual meetings.
- The feeling: For many employees, being “invited” to a meeting is seen as proof of existence within the organization. Not being there is risking invisibility.
The observation: We no longer meet to decide, we meet to reassure ourselves about the presence of others.
2. “Zoom fatigue”: a very real cognitive exhaustion
If physical reunionitis was boring, virtual reunionitis is exhausting. Neuroscience is clear: our brain is exhausted decoding non-verbal micro-signals on a mosaic of faces in low definition.
The phenomenon of “Zoom Fatigue” is no longer a simple social media expression, it is a clinical reality. In 2026, 45% of teleworkers say they suffer from a feeling of digital saturation linked to the sequence of “back-to-back” meetings (meetings without breaks).
The human tone must regain its rights here: behind these turned off screens or these frozen faces, there is an immense loss of creativity. A mind that spends its day passively listening is a mind that no longer produces new ideas.
3. The hidden cost: billions of hours lost
The economic impact of reunionitis is staggering. A study from the University of North Carolina estimates that unnecessary meetings cost companies around 2% of their revenue in pure working time.
| Meeting Type | Perceived uselessness rate | Impact on productivity |
| Weekly update | 55% | High (time consuming) |
| The information meeting | 70% | Very high (could be an email) |
| Brainstorming at 20 | 85% | Maximum (decisional paralysis) |
In the United States, some pioneering companies have taken radical measures: “No Meeting Wednesdays” are becoming widespread. In France, the trend is slowly arriving, driven by a new generation of managers who prioritize results over presence on screen.
4. The asynchronous era: regaining power over your time
The solution to this public enemy will not come from better video software, but from a cultural revolution. Hybrid work requires relearning how to communicate in a way asynchronous.
The principle is simple: if the information does not require immediate debate, it does not need a meeting. A shared document, a short explanatory video or a structured message on an internal discussion channel is often enough.
“The luxury of tomorrow will not be having a large office, it will be having four consecutive hours of deep work without any notification. »
The companies that succeed in 2026 are those that have established an effective meeting charter: no agenda, no meeting. No decision to make, no meeting. More than 7 people, no meetings.
5. Towards an ethics of shared time
Beyond performance, combating reunionitis is an issue of mental health and work-life balance. In hybrid, the meeting is the main vector of intrusion of work into the private sphere. When a meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. because “everyone is at home”, it is the right to disconnect that collapses.
The manager-coach of 2026 must be the timekeeper of his team. Its responsibility is to protect these “Deep Work” areas where real value is created.
Free up agendas to free up talent
Reunionitis is the symptom of a hybrid transition that is still poorly digested. It is the last vestige of physical presenteeism transposed into the digital world.
In 2026, the ideal company is not one where everyone is permanently connected on the same video loop. This is where the meeting once again becomes a rare, precious and energizing event. To defeat this number one enemy, we will have to relearn silence, writing and, above all, trust.
Because in the end, it is not by multiplying the synchronization points that we move forward faster, but by giving everyone the space they need to run.
