How to run meetings that don't waste time or money

Executive overview

Most employees spend one to two hours a day in meetings with no training on how to run them. The average employee wastes $6,000 a year in meetings; the average company, $6 million.

Written communication — email and text — creates frequent miscommunication because tone is lost. Face-to-face meetings, run well, solve this.

Meetings waste money only when people don't know how to run them.

Three tips for more effective meetings

• Let attendees opt out — if someone has better work to do, don't force attendance
• Invite only those who can contribute; excluding people respects their time
• End every meeting five minutes early to allow transition before the next commitment
• Start on time, treating punctuality like an Olympic event
• Leave phones out of the room; choose full presence or skip the meeting entirely