Best Idea of 2023

Happy Friday...and Happy Thanksgiving weekend,

Organizations work so hard to be efficient, scrutinizing every cost and constantly trying to do more with less. Consulting firms, in particular, take a ton of risk for relatively little profit, and their only source of income is people's time. So, time really and truly is money. Yet the time/money spent on meetings is a relative free-for-all.

When you buy something, you generally know the cost in advance. Knowing the cost allows you to assess its value and either 1) buy, 2) refine your purchase, or 3) find a less costly alternative.

Organizations routinely scrutinize far smaller costs. But for some reason, meetings get a pass. They shouldn't. In addition to their cost, meetings disrupt people's workflow, inevitably impacting the busiest people the most. Meetings are prone to having too many people, too much pontificating, too little sense of urgency, too little purpose, too few results, and no connection to their cost.

ANSWER: You don't need to put an end to all meetings. Simply require all meeting invitations to include the meeting's estimated cost, i.e., the sum of the participants' hourly billing rates x meeting duration. For non-billable staff, choose a number around two times the average hourly salary to simplify it and avoid exposing salaries.

All meetings costing more than $1,000 should also be copied to the CEO or a leader with budget responsibility. Viola'! Greater awareness for everyone. A bit of scrutiny. A bit less waste. A bit more productivity. A bit less frustration. A bit more happiness. A bit more money for better things.

That's it. I hope you're having a beautiful, beautiful holiday weekend!

Dave

Let me know what you think. dave@goodnewsfriday.com

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Written by me, not ChatGPT, with speed assist and blunder avoidance by Grammarly.