How Virtual Meetings Save Time & Money – A Brief Case Study
Part of my business is coaching a wide range of executives through a diverse set of topics, issues, skills, and growth areas. One of my executive coaching clients is a Vice President for one of the world’s largest financial services firms and serves on an international standards committee. During our weekly sessions from February through April 2020 we started strategizing techniques to implement as it became apparent there would be no in-person global meeting this quarter. This article captures 2 key elements:
- That virtual meetings CAN be more productive than in-person IF you change the way you prepare and structure your virtual meetings.
- The committee stands to save up to $400k annually by adopting these protocols.
Business Context: International Finance Experts
Even without a global pandemic forcing change, corporations and smart business owners are always looking for ways to do more for less. Going virtual can be a lean, efficient way to do business. This case study shows how adapting a virtual paradigm can streamline communications, boost productivity and save both time and money.
A group of global leaders in the financial industry meets six times a year. These 12 professionals gather at various locations around the globe, typically for 8 hours per working day. Faced with the business realities of COVID-19 restrictions, the group conducted recent meetings virtually. Time zone differences – where 8 AM on the US Pacific Coast is midnight in Japan – made meeting schedules a challenge. They decided on meetings beginning at 5:30 AM Pacific Time – 9:30 PM in Japan – with other US and European attendees in between.
Managing Logistics
At first the group agreed to 4-hour sessions, which the Convener (my client) chopped down to three hours. Since time zones meant that attendees were at widely varying times of day, each person took breaks as needed.
Prior to the first meeting, the Convener of the group took action to distribute “Rules of the Road.” These covered five general functions:
● Pre-work: define tasks and request attendee updates to shared documents
● Agenda: distribute and request feedback
● Technical logistics: provide details for connecting and device setup
● Etiquette: ground rules for virtual meeting
● Personal prep: suggestions to help attendees be ready
Establishing ground rules is important for productive meetings. Each meeting will require different communications in advance. The above five general types of guidelines can be customized for the needs of the group.
Substantial Cost Savings
Humans are social creatures, and the instinct to gather for business is strong. Business travel, trade shows and conventions, company meetings, product launch extravaganzas – these are all part of the normal business landscape. And they’re expensive! Now that COVID-19 has forced us to go virtual, smart business leaders are evaluating the viability of those business norms. In addition to budgetary considerations, they are having to consider the health and safety risks involved with even the most mundane in-person gathering. Here’s a comparison for cost – and productivity – of virtual meetings compared to the group’s normal face-to-face travel gatherings.
Evidence:
● Reviewed and approved more subtasks from ongoing 3-year project plan
● Met for 4 half-days instead of 5 full-days (and got more done)
● Less expensive, more interactive and time to tend to daily operations
Estimated $30,000-85,000 or more total savings for the group per week – 6 times a year. Meetings take place around the globe and locations change throughout the year, so costs vary dramatically for each person in the group from meeting to meeting.
● Air travel per person = range from $500 to $5000 (most fly business class) depending on origin and destination.
● Hotel per person = $1,000 to $2,000 for 5 days depending on location
● Meals per person = $375 or more depending on location for 5 days
● Rental car & incidentals per person if applicable = $200 to $500 or more for 5 days
● Conference room if needed for 5 days = $2,000+ ($400+ per day)
Conclusion and Best Practices
When virtual meetings are done right, you can get more done in a shorter amount of time for less cost. What worked to keep this group productive was to keep the meetings interactive. The Committee organizer reported that meeting time was about 80% interaction – and only 20% presentation.
- They streamlined the agenda to remove fluff, and invited check-ins and active participation throughout the sessions.
- Interaction is the key to successful web meetings. Video strongly encouraged (but not required).
- Before the meeting – structure the agenda to build active participation into the process flow. Avoid long blocks of one person presenting content without checking for understanding.
- During the meeting, stay aware of participant energy and enthusiasm. Be prepared to pivot to an interactive discussion or exercise if attendees seem to be drifting.
Even when global travel is once again considered safe, smart companies will think twice before approving travel budgets. Using the example above, even if the frequency of bi-monthly meetings is cut in half, there’s $200,000 that can be spent on research, marketing, product development or some other area of the business.
Percipio Company is led by Matthew Cahill. His deep expertise in cognitive, social, and workplace biases is rooted in the belief that if you have a brain, you have bias®. He works with executives to reduce mental mistakes, strengthen workplace relationships & disrupt existing bias within current HR processes, meeting protocols and corporate policies. Matthew has demonstrated success with large clients like LinkedIn, Salesforce and dozens of small to mid-size companies looking to create more inclusive workplaces, work smarter, generate more revenue and move from bias to belonging®.
