Meetings and Trainings

Thought experiment: If you want to convene an un-billable meeting or training, you have to pay for it in advance, calculated as follows: number of people x average billing rate x length of meeting. For un-billable staff replace billing rate with 2x direct cost.

Great! Let’s have a 1-hour all-staff meeting of 100 people, 70 billable (avg. $175/hr) and 30 un-billable (avg. $80/hr). That’ll be $14,650 please…up front! Oh, it’s a monthly meeting? That’s $175,800 for the year. Will that be cash or check?

I asked ChatGPT what it thought:

"Here are some potential benefits:

1.     Increased accountability: When managers have to pay for meetings in advance, they are more likely to be accountable for the outcomes of the meeting. They are likely to take the meeting more seriously and ensure that it is productive and achieves the desired results

2.     Greater focus: Managers are more likely to ensure that the meeting is focused on achieving specific objectives. They are more likely to steer the discussion towards the issues that are most important, and avoid wasting time on irrelevant topics.

3.     Increased efficiency: Managers are more likely to ensure that the meeting is run efficiently. They are more likely to stick to a tight agenda, keep the meeting on track, and avoid time-wasting activities such as unnecessary small talk or off-topic discussions."

Nailed it! You can bet there would be far fewer meetings too.

"Does this train of thought have a caboose?"

There’s a real cost, but a hazy benefit to most un-billable meetings. IMHO, this; 95% disrupt important workflow, 50% are unnecessary (or could be handled with email), 75% are over-attended, 80% are longer than they should be, 10% are simply a recurring habit yet to be questioned, and 20%+ are a flex by the meeting organizer.

Un-billable meetings and trainings are usually initiated by someone with a very low utilization target. Easy for them. But when the meeting ends, those with serious project deadlines, deliverables and utilization targets often feel pressure to work extra hours on their own time to reclaim the meeting time. Not good.

Maybe demanding payment in advance is over the top. Maybe. But the cost of meetings as calculated above is valid and does gets paid, after the meeting rather than before.

The business sells time, so the threshold for holding an un-sellable meeting or training should be very high. The CEO or C-suite leaders should make that threshold clear to their reports, and assure them their backs will be covered if they judge that threshold hasn’t been met.

There’s always a good reason for a meeting or training. Always! But given their extraordinary cost and disruption, the reason needs to be great, not just good.

Have yourself a terrific weekend!

Dave

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Written by me, and ChatGPT