Math Behind Meeting Scheduling Headaches

A new study by physicists explores a common frustration: scheduling meetings. The central question is how challenging it is to find a time when everyone is available. As expected, the results weren’t encouraging.

“We wanted to understand the odds,” said Harsh Mathur, a physics professor at Case Western Reserve University. “Probability theory, which started with gambling, is just as relevant to scheduling.” The team used mathematical modeling to determine how the likelihood of scheduling a meeting decreases as the number of participants increases.

Their findings revealed that the number of potential meeting times to consider grows exponentially with more participants. “Initially, the project seemed like a joke, but this exponential growth highlighted how complex planning is, akin to major computer science problems,” Mathur noted.

The study also uncovered a tipping point where scheduling becomes nearly impossible with just four or five participants, depending on available timeslots. This sudden shift is similar to physical phase transitions, like ice melting into water. “It’s remarkable how scheduling complexity parallels phase transitions,” Mathur remarked.

Beyond scheduling, the study’s models have broader implications. “Our sophisticated models could have wider applications,” Mathur said. Katherine Brown, co-author and Associate Professor at Hamilton College, suggests that these models could benefit any consensus-driven problem, such as international climate agreements. Ultimately, the study confirms what many already know: scheduling meetings can be a significant challenge. “Consensus-building is hard,” Mathur concluded.

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