Are Your Meetings an Expense or an Investment?

Meetings as an InvestmentMost people view meetings as expenses. This is quite unfortunate when you look at the definition of expense – “the cost required for something”. If your meetings are simply a cost required for ‘something,’ then you are in a world of trouble- You’re just having meetings to have meetings and we all know what a waste of time that is.

You should treat your meetings as investments.

According to Investopedia, an investment is “an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or appreciate in the future.”

Isn’t that what effective meetings should do? We don’t meet for ‘something,’ we meet with the hope that it will lead to something profitable in the future – an asset to your business, department or career.

Meetings are investments that have the power to bring about desired outcomes. Successful meetings achieve objectives that are worth more than the cost of the meeting.

If we all thought of meetings as investments, the ‘waste of my time’ meeting would disappear from existence.

The end of pointless meetings.

Think about it. If you really looked at every meeting as an investment, what would you do differently?

First and foremost you would understand that the meeting is just a way to gain an even more important asset – your accomplished objective.

You would do all you could to make sure you achieved that objective. Certainly, you would prepare in advance – identify the objective, create an agenda and really think about who you should invite. You would also give more thought into what could derail the meeting and what could help it.

You would think about the products you use to connect people. You wouldn’t use a conferencing tool you didn’t understand very well and you’d make sure everyone else understood the meeting technology too. You would ensure your meeting service has the functionality you need to meet your objective.

In short, your investment would be worth your time, your teams’ time, and your company’s money. No more pointless meetings!

Think like an investor.

Meetings create value because the outcome can be worth so much more than what you put into it…if you plan accordingly and use the correct tools for the job. Don’t just have meetings to have meetings. Think like an investor and conduct meetings that extract productivity from your team – that are assets to your business, your team and your career.

Like any good investor, you should educate yourself on the market and learn more about running successful meetings. Sign up for our newsletter, Teaming Edge and receive meeting tips and insights right to your inbox.

request-consultation

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *