Why is this story spammed around every many business news site? I feel like it's news from like...years ago?
Maybe this coming to mind:
Show HN: An app that helps engineers fight back against pointless meetings
Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
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Re: Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
#32While this is an interesting take, it also plays into the meetings are bad mindset without thinking things through. The problem here is in the opportunity cost. The discussion that doesn't happen in the meeting now happens asynchronously, which means more back and forth, and the time spent it now spread over more people. I don't think the cost gets saved.
I think meetings are great if they are optional for everyone attending and it has a clear deliverable at the end of it. That way people who don't think have anything to add can skip it and you always come out of it with action items and clear owners.
Re: Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
#33This is interesting. For a while I had a client who drug their consultants and leadership into endless meetings, so we put a "cost of this meeting" calculation in the invite, notes, and handouts. It changed almost nothing. The problem was that the spending number was viewed as a cost of doing business. The difference between "expensing" a $500 meal and cutting a $500 meeting is that I get to eat the meal. I think for…
Some people get lonely. But that's not universal.
Meetings shouldn't be social for the sake of being social. I agree that there's a social aspect to work, but don't use meetings as an excuse for social engagement.
Instead, a company should embrace that social-ness of doing in-person work and just let people socialize without a penalty. I'd argue that a company that promotes social activities and connectedness between workers is one that performs better anyway.
And for those who don't want to socialize and work better in isolation, let them. Meetings, by definition, probably feel like a "waste of time" for at least one or more attendees. People should feel like they are empowered to choose which meetings are most beneficial to their work.
Re: Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
#34I'm working on an app to address this issue. While putting a cost calculation is a good way to raise awareness, we take a different approach to a solution.
It's called Meet Robbie (https://meetrobbie.com) and we give you an agenda with timers, minutes, and action items and you can use it directly in Zoom.
It's main use case is for recurring meetings where you have a list of business to get through. It encourages common sense things like having an agenda, being mindful of time, and keeping organized minutes.
We just released our so you can try it out. Would love any feedback and thoughts on our approach!
Re: Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
#35I have always been bewildered by the anti-meeting sentiment in the tech community. There seems to be an assumption that meetings are bad. But obviously, meetings facilitate communication. You can waste a lot more time by not having a meeting and letting misunderstandings abound.
Shopify employees are going to get paid for their time whether they're in a meeting or not, so this calculator should consider the cost savings that result from having a meeting instead of not having a meeting.
"Meetings are a waste" is just such a juvenile perspective. If meetings truly are a waste in your organization, then the problem is your employees.
I.e., it is probably you who is the waste, not the meeting you're in.
Re: Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
#36Why is this story spammed around every many business news site? I feel like it's news from like...years ago?
Check out their stock price today.
Someone in IR at shopify is doing some good PR. ;)
Re: Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
#37I have always been bewildered by the anti-meeting sentiment in the tech community. There seems to be an assumption that meetings are bad. But obviously, meetings facilitate communication. You can waste a lot more time by not having a meeting and letting misunderstandings abound. Shopify employees are going to get paid for their time whether they're in a meeting or not, so this calculator should consider the cost savi…
I used to feel this way as well. But meetings can spiral out of control. In my previous company, my stand ups were taking 30 min minimum and sometimes up to an hour. At one point, I was looking at 3 hours of meetings a day. As an IC, I felt pretty powerless because it was my EM that was making these decisions.
Re: Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
#38A big problem with the pivot to WFH is that meeting sizes were no longer bound by the physical size of a room.
The result was that meetings could explode in size to dozens of people as anyone and everyone vaguely related to an issue was pulled in.
Now I've heard some say that that's not a big problem because people can "work" on other things while being present in the meeting waiting until the small moment when they might be needed/relevant/useful, but I cannot believe it is efficient and good to have a bunch of people vaguely distracted and not engaged in either their work or the meeting.
IMO whether wfh or present in the room, people need to be really disciplined about meeting size and keeping at the smallest possible size of totally engaged persons.
Re: Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
#39Why is this story spammed around every many business news site? I feel like it's news from like...years ago?
They took all that saved $$ and dumped it to pr folks
Re: Shopify discourages meetings by shaming employees with cost calculator
#40This is interesting. For a while I had a client who drug their consultants and leadership into endless meetings, so we put a "cost of this meeting" calculation in the invite, notes, and handouts. It changed almost nothing. The problem was that the spending number was viewed as a cost of doing business. The difference between "expensing" a $500 meal and cutting a $500 meeting is that I get to eat the meal. I think for…
My coworkers are not my friends. I don't make friends at work, I maintain professional relationships. I connect with them on LinkedIn, I don't friend them on Facebook. We discuss work-related topics and we solve problems.
I don't chit-chat with my coworkers about music videos or church or the weather. I don't get intimate with my coworkers or try to ask them out for drinks, or tell them how pretty their eyes look. I don't invite them over to hang out at the pool.
It is perhaps unfortunate, but American corporate culture, as a direct result of its diversity and inclusion, has become a culture of non-intimacy and non-engagement. If I attempted to make "friends" at work, I'd risk being nailed for insubordination, loafing, or sexual harassment. It's not worth it, so we find our friends and dates outside the company.