We’ve all been there: another meeting invite pops up, and you wonder, “Couldn’t this just be an email?” Meetings have become such a staple of office culture that it’s easy to forget they come with a real, tangible cost. And no, we don’t just mean the cost of your patience. It’s time to show management how these meetings impact more than just your calendar—they impact the company’s bottom line.
Meetings Are Expensive, Literally
Let’s break it down. Every minute spent in a meeting isn’t just time ticking away—it’s money. Picture this: you’re in a one-hour meeting with ten people. If each person in that room makes, say, $30 per hour, that meeting just cost the company $300. Now think about how many of these meetings happen in a week, a month, or a year. Suddenly, those seemingly harmless 30-minute syncs are costing thousands of dollars.
But wait, it gets better (or worse, depending on how you look at it). These meetings don’t just eat up money directly—they eat into productivity. What could you have accomplished in that hour if you weren’t stuck listening to Dave discuss his “brainstorm” for the fourth time? The cost isn’t just about hourly rates—it’s about the opportunity cost of people not doing their actual jobs.
Time To Get Calculative
Want to make your case to management about cutting down on meetings? Here’s a simple formula to help them visualize the cost:
Meeting Cost = Number of Attendees × Average Hourly Wage × Meeting Duration
Let’s say you have a 45-minute meeting with 8 people, each making $25 per hour:
8 (people) × 25 ($/hour) × 0.75 (hours) = $150
That’s $150 for a meeting that maybe, just maybe, could have been replaced by a Slack message or a well-written summary email. Once you start multiplying this by the number of meetings, it becomes pretty clear why people feel like they’re spending more time in meetings than doing actual work.
How To Use This Information To Make Change
The next time someone suggests a meeting, politely ask, “Is this worth $150 of our time?” You don’t have to be confrontational—it’s about being realistic. If the answer is “yes” and the meeting has a clear agenda and outcome, then great! But if it’s just another aimless update or a brainstorming session with no real action items, maybe it’s time to reconsider.
Show management how much their meeting culture could be costing the company. When they realize that an average weekly check-in with ten people costs over $1,000 a month, it might just motivate them to reconsider.
Make Meetings Work For You
Not all meetings are bad. Some are absolutely essential, and sometimes you really do need everyone on the same page. The key is to make sure that the meetings happening are the ones that add real value. Here are a few quick tips:
- Set Clear Agendas: Make sure every meeting has a purpose. No agenda, no meeting.
- Reduce Attendees: Invite only those who are critical to the discussion. Fewer people = fewer costs.
- Timebox It: Limit meeting times. Aim for 15 minutes if possible. Quick, focused, and straight to the point.
Remember, the goal isn’t to banish meetings altogether—it’s to make sure the ones that do happen are actually worth everyone’s time (and the company’s money).
Final Thoughts
Next time you receive a meeting invite, do a quick mental calculation. If the numbers start to look unreasonable, don’t be afraid to speak up. Chances are, others are feeling the same way. Let’s make our workdays more productive and save some company money in the process—one fewer meeting at a time.