As a lean quality agent on the hardware team, one of my main tasks was to identify how time and money were being wasted within our reduced team. The key question was, "Which tasks contributed to project progress, and which ones were likely just wasting time?"
I was surprised to find that the same company which assigned me this task was spending hours on a monthly all-employee meeting that lasted one and a half to two hours. This was the same company that deducted 5 minutes from my paycheck when I arrived late. During these meetings, I often wondered if the managers understood the hourly salary of the entire company, thus knowing the cost of such meetings.
It turned out that I wasn't the only one concerned about this issue. During a hackathon, a Shopify employee proposed implementing a calculator, and the results were eye-opening.
"The average 30-minute meeting involving three employees at the company costs between $700-$1600. By eliminating just three meetings per week per person, Shopify estimates it will reduce overall costs by 15%."
I don't believe that all meetings should be abolished, but they definitely need to have clear objectives that should be accomplished during the meeting. Additionally, one person should be responsible for ensuring the meeting stays on track, preventing it from wandering off-topic. At least, this approach works well in the development context. Please, let's keep it simple and efficient.
Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/12/tech/shopify-meeting-cost-calculator/index.html
