The High Cost of Meetings

In part one of this valuable topic we have learned the importance having an organized chairperson or meeting leader, staying on course with an agenda allotting time to specific items, and collaboration ideas for gaining participation, attention of attendees and extending the opportunity to participate to all involved.

It is said that many executives and managers spend 50 to 75% of their time in meetings. Meetings are a vital communication tool, and can have many positive results. A large company could easily spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on meetings, when all expenses are tallied, including employee time, down-time (loss of production), meeting facilities, travel expenses, refreshments etc.

Consider a meeting with 6 executives earning $50K salary. They meet for 2 hours to discuss cost cutting measures. This combined 12 hours of meeting time comes at an approximate premium of $600 cost in wages alone. This does not include down-time, travel costs, refreshments or lunch brought in. Is this a good investment?

The success of a meeting is determined by its quality. A well conducted meeting is productive, and the achievement is clear. Attendees leave with a sense of accomplishment toward a well defined purpose.

Purpose – If you have a statement to clearly reflect the reason for the meeting, and what is to be achieved during the meeting, you are in a much better position of effectiveness. Ie. “We will be reviewing current discrepancies in inventory and generating ideas on improving inventory accuracy in the future.” This purpose will help you through the planning stages of selecting a location, inviting participants and creating an agenda.

Opening – Start on time (even if not all participants have arrived) with an overview of the events leading up to the meeting. This includes summarizing past meetings on the subject, brief reports from committees, or a background on how the topic applies to the members present. Try to open with an attention getter. Something more exciting than, “I want to welcome you all here ….”, which can lead you down a path of boredom. Introduce special guests, welcome the group and encourage participation immediately if possible to foster a friendly atmosphere.

Handling the Meeting – A good meeting leader possesses skills in poise, sensitivity, impartiality, tact, humour, judgement and listening skills. Beyond getting everyone to participate openly by creating an open atmosphere, the leader guides the conversation along using transitions from one point to another, watching the time allotted to each to curb over discussing an item and drawing out participation if required by asking questions using the 5 w’s. (who, what, when, where, why). The purpose here is to get the items discussed, the problems solved, the decisions made or the meeting mission accomplished!

Planning for future action - If I can offer the magic to meetings, its at this point that the rubber meets the road. Plans for future action ensure that the new information or decisions will be implemented. Who needs to take action? Who else needs to be informed? What resources may be required? Action to be taken by when? How will we measure success? And so on.

Conclusion – The finally of the meeting can summarize the time together, and end on a positive note. Review your purpose briefly, indicate the progress made, emphasize agreements or inform the group of developments made toward future action. A courteous leader will honour all participants with gratitude for their time and attention toward achieving the objectives.

When meetings are productive, they are worth the costs associated. Best wishes for productive meetings in your workplace,

Penny