Executive Meetings
Meeting ROI: How to Profit from the Time You Invest in Meetings
Time is money, and while this is almost universally accepted, it is rarely applied to meetings. Companies invest enormous amounts of time in meetings, yet most organisations have no clear picture of what they actually cost.
Unproductive meetings are a problem that board members, directors, and managers need to address with urgency. Framed positively: even modest improvements in meeting productivity can generate immense returns.
Leaders’ working time is a finite resource. Getting the most out of it requires discipline and a consistent focus on creating value for the business.
Time spent in meetings is critical to that outcome. In this article we explore:
Meetings: Fundamental tools for business success
Studies show that meetings are fundamental to company performance, and over the past 50 years, their number and duration have risen steadily.
Meetings are the tool that boards, directors, and executives use to achieve overarching goals. When they are dysfunctional, the frustration is felt at every level.
Senior executives now spend an average of 23 hours per week in meetings, compared to roughly ten hours in the 1960s. This points to two clear imperatives:
- Meeting time should be reduced without sacrificing outcomes.
- Given how much of leaders’ time meetings consume, that time must be used efficiently.
Sherpany advocates excellent meeting management to make every meeting count. The problem is not with meetings themselves, but with inadequate execution. Meeting time needs to be used more effectively.
How much does wasted meeting time cost?
Every minute spent in an unproductive meeting comes at the expense of individual work, creativity, efficiency, and morale. The opportunity costs are significant: unnecessary meetings interrupt vital “deep work” rather than supporting it with relevant content and stimulus.
Cal Newport, Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, describes “deep work” as the ability to focus on cognitively demanding tasks without distraction. When meetings fragment the working day, people resort to early mornings or weekends just to find the focus they need.
Meetings represent a substantial financial commitment. Meeting experts project that scheduled face-to-face business meetings cost $554 per participant in Europe in 2023. Dirk Schmachtenberg, CEO of technology consultancy Plan D, puts the figure even higher, suggesting most meetings cost over €1,000 per hour. The implication is clear: meeting time must be used as responsibly and efficiently as possible.
Calculating the cost of meetings
The monetary cost of meetings becomes particularly stark at the senior management level.
Consider the following parameters:
- 100 managers in a company
- An average annual salary of €100,000
- An average of 45 working hours per week
- 23 hours spent in meetings per week
- 50% meeting productivity (estimated by leading meeting expert Steven Rogelberg)
Meetings are productive when they serve clear objectives and generate visible progress. The key parameters are a clear agenda (best framed as questions), goal-oriented discussion, sound decision-making, and a defined action plan.
Using these parameters, total costs amount to €5.11 million, with a potential saving of €2.55 million if meetings were fully productive. Per person, that equates to €25,500 per year, just over a quarter of average staff costs of €100,000. By shifting just 10% of meeting time from unproductive to productive, an organisation could recover €511,000 annually in misallocated salary costs.
The costs of different types of meeting
The example above focuses on management meetings, but it is worth examining costs across different types of meetings. The formal meetings most relevant to senior leaders include:
- Administrative and supervisory board meetings
- Management meetings
- Steering committee meetings
- Team meetings
- Project meetings
Costs of supervisory and administrative board meetings
Board meetings carry the highest cost per session. Board members are, in effect, remunerated primarily for their attendance at these meetings, making the capital outlay for each session exceptionally high.
Assuming €50,000 annual remuneration per participant, eight board members, and eight meetings per year, each meeting represents a cost of €50,000.
The relative infrequency of board meetings moderates annual costs. However, many organisations also maintain a range of committees, each with its own meeting schedule, which increases overall costs significantly.
Other meeting types in comparison
Top management (C-level) meetings carry lower per-session costs, though they remain substantial. Assuming eight participants, a four-hour duration, and an average hourly rate of €190, each meeting costs over €6,000. Because these meetings typically occur fortnightly, annual costs accumulate quickly.
Steering committee meetings (two hours), team meetings (three hours), and project meetings (three hours) cost considerably less per session, between €1,300 and €1,500, given lower salary costs and shorter durations. Their frequency and scale, however, still demand a disciplined approach.
A weekly team meeting with seven participants, a three-hour duration, and an average hourly rate of €63, for example, carries a per-session cost of €1,323.
When annual costs are aggregated by meeting type, board meetings, despite their high per-session cost, represent a comparatively modest annual spend. Team meetings, by contrast, account for the highest annual cost due to their frequency and greater number of participants. On average, employees spend up to 40% of their working time in meetings, equivalent to around three hours per day in a 40-hour week. 7
The consequences of squandered meeting costs
The figures above make the case clearly: meeting time must be deliberate and well-executed. The board level, followed by top management, stands to benefit most from improvements in meeting efficiency, but every level of the organisation warrants attention.
The challenge is to optimise as many meetings as possible to increase productive meeting time overall. Ultimately, meeting time is not an abstract resource. It is the medium through which a company pursues its goals. If top-level meetings are not serving those goals, there is every reason to change them.
As Sacha Gerber, CFO of the Calida Group, puts it in our case study: “Time is money. When we meet, we want it to be efficient.”
For day-to-day business, the effects of wasted meeting spend are tangible:
- High salaries are not deployed towards achieving goals.
- Managers begin to view meetings as obligations rather than instruments for results.
- Leaders experience disengagement, questioning whether meetings are worth their time.
Positive meeting ROI: How can time be better used?
Many organisations still struggle to assess meeting ROI, and taking concrete steps to improve it is a significant challenge in itself.
Most organisations place few restrictions on who can schedule a meeting and under what circumstances, with the result that meetings are convened without consideration of time or cost.
At the same time, meetings remain essential for collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Used well, they build relationships, enable efficient information flows, and deliver clear added value. That value is worth investing in.
The priority is treating meeting time as the valuable resource it is, and deploying it as productively as possible.
Three ways to increase the ROI of your meetings
To transform meetings into powerful tools, three areas deserve focused attention:
1. Assess your approach to meetings
Start by examining:
- What meeting culture exists in your organisation?
- How do senior leaders conduct their meetings?
- Is there clear meeting leadership, and is it well-supported?
- How are formal meetings generally perceived?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of current practice?
An honest assessment of meeting practices will surface specific problems and provide a clear foundation for targeted improvements.
2. Implement clear rules and processes
Formal meetings need clear rules and processes: organisational and workflow patterns that promote alignment, collaboration, and execution. These provide the structure needed to use meeting time purposefully and consistently.
3. Use the right technology
Processes need to be streamlined and, where possible, automated. The right technology is a key enabler. Organisations that invest in purpose-built solutions are better positioned to increase meeting efficiency and productivity.
As the most-used management tool, meetings cannot afford to be unproductive. Investing in a meeting management solution pays off quickly: given the hidden costs already described, the conditions for a positive meeting ROI are highly favourable. As this article has shown, even a 10% improvement in productive meeting time makes a measurable difference.
Successful case studies for effective meeting management
Real improvements are achievable. Airline Assistance Switzerland (AAS), for example, halved the time spent on meetings after adopting Sherpany’s meeting management solution and Excellent Meeting Journey process. Read more in our Airline Assistance Switzerland case study.
The EHL Group reports similar gains: “The assistants, executives and board members save hours of work. We are more efficient and save money,” says Chairman of the Board Dr Carole Ackermann in our EHL Group case study.
Former Zuger Kantonalbank CEO Pascal Niquille estimated Sherpany saved him at least six hours per week in meeting preparation alone. Read more in the Zuger Kantonalbank case study.
Capitalise on your investment in meetings
Given how much time leaders invest across all meeting types, unproductivity carries an immense cost. Meeting time should be used as efficiently as possible, with a clear focus on generating tangible returns.
Organisations need to start treating meeting time as the strategic resource it is. This applies at every level: anyone who schedules a meeting carries a responsibility to make it worth attendees’ time.
Meetings are the most-used management tool, and unproductivity within them is not a necessary evil to be tolerated. It is a problem to be solved. Consistently improving meeting effectiveness generates real, measurable outcomes. Achieving that reliably requires the right knowledge, the right processes, and the right technology.
If you're ready to enhance the ROI of your formal meetings, book a free consultation and find out how Sherpany can support your team today.