Managers and employees alike complain that they devote too much time to this key aspect of professional life. This has prompted some companies to develop tools to combat so-called "meetingitis"
Numerous surveys show that workplace meetings are on the increase. Managers and employees alike complain that they devote too much time to this key aspect of professional life. This has prompted some companies to develop tools to combat so-called "meetingitis."Shopify is one of those companies. The online sales platform recently launched a new tool to measure the financial impact of a meeting of more than three people, according to Quartz magazine. It uses the number of participants, their average salary and the duration of the conference call, briefing or other meeting to which the employees are invited, to establish in real time the cost of the meeting for the company. This cost measurement tool was developed as part of an internal innovation competition—or hackathon in office jargon—to make employees more aware of the wasteful nature of unnecessary meetings. "The cost calculator is here to challenge the status quo, nudging our teams to reconsider meeting necessity and explore more creative collaboration methods," Shopify COO, Kaz Nejatian, told Quartz.