A process for effective meetings
How to stop wasting thousands of dollars & get the most out of your meetings
Meetings cost you thousands of dollars per year.
For example, a 1-hour meeting of 5 people who make 100k a year on average costs $272.
If you spend 10h per week on meetings, then it's $2,720 per week, and your annual cost is $136,000
$136,000 per year.
If that's such a huge cost, you want to get the most out of meetings.
But, as you know, in reality, meetings are usually a waste.
How many times have you attended a meeting where:
Only a few people talked and the rest just sat slowly getting bored to death
People came unprepared which made the conversation worthless
Discussions lacked direction or got easily derailed
As a result, little or nothing got done.
Here's how you can make your meetings effective and in turn save thousands of dollars per year:
1. Start documenting & organizing meetings
When conducted properly, meetings are goldmines of information.
To tap into this gold, they need to be properly documented and organized.
No matter what system you use, make sure your meetings are easily retrievable.
For instance, all meetings in my system—BusinessMind—land in the general meetings database that can be quickly searched & filtered and can also be found under projects or areas they relate to.
2. Assign pre-work to every meeting participant
Prior to the meeting, distribute relevant materials and tasks to attendees so they come prepared and can contribute meaningfully.
This streamlines discussions and increases the likelihood of productive outcomes.
Examples of pre-work:
Open the new design of our homepage {link}, write down your feedback, and send it over before the meeting
Read this report {link} and write down at least 1 idea on how it might affect your department. Send it over before the meeting.
Write down your top 3 priorities for the next quarter and send it over before the meeting.
3. Always have an agenda
Prepare a clear and focused agenda for each meeting, outlining the topics to be discussed and the desired outcomes.
This helps maintain direction and prevents discussions from veering off track, saving valuable time and resources.
4. Make notes or use AI to do it
During the meeting, designate someone to take detailed notes or consider using AI-powered transcription tools (like AI Notetaker) to accurately capture the conversation.
This ensures important points are retained, and any follow-up actions are well-documented.
5. Record the meeting
If feasible and appropriate, consider recording the meeting for future reference.
This allows absentees to catch up and helps reinforce accountability for action items discussed during the session.
6. ALWAYS finish the meeting with action points (assigning an owner and deadline)
Conclude each meeting by clearly defining action points, assigning owners responsible for each task, and setting specific deadlines.
This holds individuals accountable and ensures that progress is made on discussed matters, maximizing the value of each meeting and ultimately leading to significant cost savings.
In summary, by implementing the six steps outlined above, you will transform meetings from being wasteful in both time and money into highly productive endeavors that maximize efficiency and improve decision-making through enhanced collaboration.
Hope that helps.
Best,
Simon
Ways I can help
Masterclass + System: Productivity Systems to Save 4h/Day & Scale Without Burning Out: Learn how to use systems & workflows to 2x your output & stay organized no matter how big your workflow is. Link