I am regularly in meetings that cost anywhere between $300 to $3500+. Sounds crazy right? Not for me, and not for most people. On average I spend 3-5 hours a week in meetings. These meetings vary in size. Sometimes it is just the development department, 8 people. Sometimes it is the whole product team, 35 people. Sometimes it is the whole company 178 people. In each one of these meetings little to no work gets done but yet every one is paid.
So lets do some math. Once a month I sit in on a company wide meeting of 178 people. Let’s say the average employee is paid $20/hr. $20 x 178 = $3560. Yeah, the meeting is important but it also cost the company close to $3500, probably more since I’m just taking a guess that on average the employees only make $20/hr. If the meeting is held once a month, $3500 x 12 = $42,000 just to have that company wide meeting once a month for a year. That doesn’t include the cost of lost productivity.
Now take a moment to do some math of your own to see what a meeting costs your business. It might make you think twice on having a meeting. But that doesn’t mean you should just stop having meetings all together. When meetings are conducted properly they are well worth it. Take a moment to ask these questions when considering a meeting.
- What is the meeting about and why are we holding this meeting?
- What is the outcome of the meeting?
- Are the people who are attending the meeting really necessary?
- If we don’t have this meeting, will there be a negative impact, will there be a positive impact?
If the answers to the above questions aren’t favorable, then the meeting probably isn’t worth it.
