"Time is Money" Meeting Cost Calculator

The Hidden Cost of Unnecessary Meetings

In the corporate world, time literally equals money. Every time a manager schedules a 60-minute meeting with 10 people, they aren't just taking up an hour of the day—they are spending 10 collective hours of company payroll.

How We Calculate Meeting Costs

Our calculator uses a standard formula to determine the financial drain of a meeting:

• Average Salary: We take the average annual salary of the attendees and divide it by 2,080 (the standard number of working hours in a year) to find the hourly rate per employee.
• Hourly Burn Rate: We multiply the average hourly rate by the total number of attendees.
• Final Cost: We multiply the hourly burn rate by the duration of the meeting.

How to Reduce Meeting Waste

Companies lose billions of dollars annually to "meeting bloat." Here are a few ways to stop the bleeding:

1. The "Two Pizza" Rule: Popularized by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, never have a meeting where two pizzas aren't enough to feed the entire group. Keep attendee lists small.
2. Asynchronous Updates: Status updates should be sent via Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email. Only use meetings for critical decision-making or brainstorming.
3. Shorter Defaults: Change your calendar default from 60 minutes to 30 or 45 minutes. People will naturally fill the time they are given (Parkinson's Law).