We marketers love a meeting. And every now and again they’re pretty useful.
They’e also a total blackhole for time.
I reckon AT BEST two thirds of our time in meetings is done so with energy, purpose and structure.
The other third is vague, off agenda and all too often dominated by one loud mouth (I am one such offender).
In isolation, the damage is difficult to measure and easy to ignore, but when you take a macro view it becomes all too obvious:
🕒 Let’s imagine you spend 3 hours a day in meetings (not unusual in our industry) that’s probably an hour of wasted time.
📅. So 240 hours a year.
💰. At an opportunity cost of even £50/hour (which is far lower than it ought to be) that’s £12k.
😱. So in a small marketing team of, say, 6, that’s £72k collectively.
£72 grand gone. Every single year. 💸 💸 💸
The solution – not certain, but I’m pretty sure it begins by developing a culture that is deeply suspicious of meetings, particularly any involving more than 3 people. They should be treated as a cost with a very real price tag attached.
That way, not only will they happen less, but when they do people will treat them with the importance they deserve. They will turn up prepared. They will listen carefully. They will take notes. And they will make sure the resulting actions are delivered.
A little less conversation, a lot more getting **** done.
