Have you ever calculated exactly what a meeting costs your business?
For those of you that haven’t, the results may be shocking. Even if you’re a business owner with a relatively small sized team, your average weekly ‘catch up’ could be costing you $500 per hour. And now with new ways of working, and working from home becoming ‘the new normal’, the price has very likely risen.
We know that this sounds alarming but we assure you this figure is steeped in reality. Let us break down the calculation for you.
Say for instance, you own and run a small business that includes seven full-time team members, with an average salary of 70k each. This means that members of your team are paid approximately $35.43 per hour of being at work – plus employer costs like superannuation / Kiwisaver.
Now, say for example your weekly team meeting runs for one hour. This means the spend for the meeting, only taking into account the base resource of time totals approximately $248; this does not include your time as the Founder/ Managing Director. Nor, does it account for sales lost while the meeting is taking place. Add to this the cost of tech setup at home and the video-conferencing software that makes remote meetings possible and you’ve added on at least another $400 – $500.
This brings your total somewhere around the $800 mark. Now, that is a big spend, especially at a time like this, where we’re seeing the strain the pandemic has put onto business operations of all sizes.
When you actually sit down and ‘do the maths’, you can begin to appreciate the significance of productivity in this equation.
So, how do you ensure your remote meeting is worth the spend?
There are many elements to getting this right. We’ve spent years perfecting ways of working to address this question. These few basic principles will take you a long way to success. But beware that may be harder to implement than they sound.
How to get the most of out of a remote meeting:
- Promote a culture of ‘coming prepared’ for a meeting and hold all team members to that standard, including leadership teams
- Educate your team on creating a home-office space free from distraction
- Ensure your team knows how to correctly use their videoconferencing software
- Take time to educate and discuss roles/etiquette in remote meetings. This helps everyone to feel they have the chance to be heard and can make valuable contributions to the meeting
Taking the time to set these ‘ground rules’ is vital to getting the most out of your remote meetings and ensures they stay cost effective. But more than that productive meetings can help your team’s output and morale.
Getting them right means you create a highly motivated team, one that maintains accountability and a sense of pride in delivering inroads and making steady progress towards business goals.
For more information about how to implement these practices in your business, schedule an Information Call today to find out more.
