Why You Should Track Meeting Costs (And How to Start)

Meetings are a necessary part of collaboration, but they're also one of the biggest investments your organization makes in terms of time and money. Yet most teams have no visibility into what their meetings actually cost.

The Hidden Cost of Time

When you schedule a meeting, you're not just booking a conference room. You're asking multiple people to dedicate their time and attention to a single purpose. That time has value.

Consider a simple example:

A 1-hour meeting with 5 people

Each person earns different salaries

The true cost includes their hourly rate

Plus the opportunity cost of what else they could be doing

Why Tracking Matters

1. Makes the Invisible Visible

It's easy to schedule meetings when they feel "free." But when you can see that your weekly status meeting costs several hundred dollars each time, you start asking better questions:

Do we really need this meeting?

Could this be an email or async update?

Are the right people attending?

2. Encourages Intentionality

When teams become aware of meeting costs, they naturally become more intentional about:

Who needs to attend

How long meetings should run

Whether a meeting is necessary at all

3. Drives Better Decisions

Cost visibility helps teams prioritize. A high-cost strategic planning session is clearly valuable. A high-cost status update meeting might need rethinking.

How to Start Tracking

Step 1: Calculate Base Costs

For each meeting, you need to know:

Number of attendees

Approximate salary/hourly rate of each person

Meeting duration

A simple formula: (Hourly Rate × Number of People × Duration in Hours)

Step 2: Use a Tool

Manual calculation gets tedious. Tools like CostMeet automatically calculate costs in real-time based on:

Team member roles and approximate salaries

Meeting duration

Number of participants

Step 3: Make It Visible

The key is visibility. Display costs:

On calendar invites

During meetings

In meeting summaries

When everyone can see the cost, behavior changes naturally.

Practical Tips for Implementation

Start Small

Don't try to track every meeting immediately. Start with:

Recurring meetings

Large team meetings

Meetings you suspect might be unnecessary

Set Approximate Rates

You don't need exact salaries. Use approximate hourly rates based on:

Role (engineer, manager, executive)

Seniority level

Industry standards

Review Regularly

Schedule monthly or quarterly reviews to:

Identify your most expensive meetings

Question whether they're delivering value

Look for patterns and opportunities

Empower Your Team

Give people permission to:

Decline meetings that aren't essential for them

Suggest alternative formats (async updates, smaller groups)

End meetings early when the agenda is complete

Common Objections Answered

"Won't this make people uncomfortable?"

Initially, maybe. But most teams quickly appreciate the transparency and become more respectful of each other's time.

"Not all meetings can be measured by cost"

True! Some meetings deliver strategic value that far exceeds their cost. That's fine. The goal isn't to eliminate all expensive meetings—it's to eliminate expensive meetings that don't deliver value.

"Our meetings are already efficient"

Great! Tracking will confirm that and provide data to support your practices. You might also discover unexpected insights.

What You'll Learn

After tracking meeting costs for a few weeks, most teams discover:

Certain meetings could be much shorter

Some recurring meetings are no longer necessary

Smaller groups can make decisions faster

Async communication works for many updates

Getting Started Today

You can start tracking meeting costs right now:

1. List your regular meetings - Write down all recurring meetings on your calendar

2. Estimate attendance costs - Roughly calculate the hourly cost of typical attendees

3. Calculate total costs - Multiply by meeting duration and frequency

4. Review and adjust - Look for quick wins and improvements

Or use a tool like CostMeet to automate the entire process and track costs in real-time.

The Bottom Line

Tracking meeting costs isn't about being cheap or eliminating collaboration. It's about being intentional with one of your most valuable resources: time.

When you make meeting costs visible, you create a culture where:

Meetings are valued, not default

People's time is respected

Decisions are data-informed

Teams collaborate more effectively

Start small, be consistent, and watch how visibility transforms your meeting culture.

[Start Tracking Free →](/signup)