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Organise a meeting   About meetings   

Is a meeting the only option?

Whether or not you decide to have a meeting will depend on what you are trying to accomplish. There may be other ways to meet your needs, for example, if you wanted to give information, you could use email, a memo or a report instead.

If you are thinking of holding a meeting, you need to consider:

cost

 

Meetings are expensive in terms of both time and money. Can you afford a meeting?

time

participants.

Are people willing to attend your meeting or are they only going because they have to?

Meetings cost money – sometimes a lot of money. Does your organisation ever work out the cost of holding meetings?

The simplest way to work out cost is to multiply salary of attendees by length of meeting. Note, though, that there is also lost opportunity cost – when participants are in a meeting, they aren't earning income for the organisation or doing other useful activities.

You also need to factor in preparation costs, travel expenses and the cost of materials, facilities and equipment used during the meeting.

Work out a costing for a face-to-face meeting of the ValleyView 'On the Move' project team based on the following:

The meeting requires the attendance of:

  • Stephanie Nutalie, Project Manager ($35.85 per hour)
  • Marcia Ferguson, Instructional Designer ($42.92 per hour)
  • Jay Van Den Berg, Editor ($29.93 per hour)
  • Jacinta Del Rio, Marketing Executive ($31.14 per hour)
  • Martin Horgan, Accountant ($29.89 per hour)
  • Christine Smith, Graphic Designer ($30.42 per hour)
  • Tim Tran, Editorial Assistant ($19.40 per hour)
  • Angus Smissen, General Manager ($50.43 per hour).

The group meets for about one and a half hours, and uses the board room at $100 per hour to cover rental, lighting and heating. Morning tea is provided at a cost of $3.50 per head.

  1. Does your costing suggest there may be a better way of doing things, or are these costs justifiable? Post your calculations and conclusions in the ValleyView Meeting room. Make a topic called, On the Move meeting (unless it's already there). Compare your answer with other postings on this topic. Send some feedback to at least one other posting.
  2. Keep your own records about how this costing process compares with that used in your own organisation.

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Organise a meeting   About meetings  
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