Employee engagement specialist TalentDrain has launched a new feature on its website which calculates the actual cost of holding a meeting at work and provides tips to help managers avoid the all-round frustration that stems from tedious meetings.
The Meeting Cost Calculator is a simple online tool, accessible via a web-browser, which enables you to enter the estimated annual salary of each participant, start a timer and then see an on-screen counter showing how much your meeting is actually costing.
“Studies show that managers spend 30-60 per cent of their time at work in meetings,” said Ron Eldridge, Director of TalentDrain.
“Every minute spent ineffectively costs money and drains people’s energy and commitment. The Meeting Cost Calculator makes it easy to see the real cost of any meeting. Running it on-screen can help you make a serious point about cost effectiveness.”
An accompanying guide from TalentDrain shows how managers can make daily check-in meetings, weekly tactical meetings, monthly strategic meetings and quarterly reviews more engaging and effective, by concentrating on focus, energy and ownership.
Among the recommendations are: have a distinct purpose; ensure only the right people are in the room; start on time; focus on decisions, not details; don’t allow discussions to wander; get issues off the agenda as quickly as possible; empower those who raise an issue to follow it through; delegate low-value issues; summarise actions at the end and learn to say ‘no’ if you are invited to superfluous meetings.
“It’s clear that the problem has got out of hand when a poll shows that 25 per cent of managers would rather go to the dentist than sit through a meeting,” said Ron Eldridge. “We’ve created this calculator as a service to help organisations engage their employees and retain their talent, by avoiding the frustration and despair that results from dull or poorly-run meetings.”
