For your business, holding meetings might be costly, but it is also a necessary evil. Therefore, if you are set to host a business meeting, you should probably prioritize seeking ways to save money on it rather than attempting to cancel it altogether.
The good news is that there are indeed clever methods of trimming the expense of corporate meetings. You could come to especially appreciate this during the current era of unwelcome increases in both inflation and energy bills. So, what exactly can you do?
Plan the event well in advance
This bears particular emphasis if the event will need to take place not at your own workplace but instead in an external venue.
“Early planning provides vendors and suppliers with more options, which will always save the client money. It allows us to ensure the equipment needed for the job is confirmed and available,” one manager for an audiovisual production firm has explained to BizBash.
He added: “If the vendor has to jump through hoops and disrupt his operations to get the client what he wants, there’s a price for that.”
Limit the number of people required to attend
American Express points out: “If employees are sitting in a meeting, rather than producing work or getting new clients, you’re losing money.”
So, as you plan a meeting, you should ascertain which members of your team will definitely have to be there and which of them can devote their time to other things. Utilizing the best meeting transcription software can be particularly helpful in this situation, allowing those unable to attend to access a comprehensive record of the discussion afterward.
This way, you keep the meeting streamlined without sacrificing important details, ensuring that everyone stays informed even if they can’t be there in person.
Work as hard as possible to find excuses for as many of your workers as possible not to have to come along.
Be flexible with the timing
Once you know whose presence at the meeting will be mandatory, you should consult with them to find a meeting time that would work well for all of them.
Of course, you will need a time that is convenient for you, too. So, it could be helpful for you to decide on a few potential dates and times before sharing these with the other required attendees.
In response to their feedback, you could slowly narrow down the options — and maybe even change a few of them — before you find one which would be appropriate for everyone.
Along the way, you could suggest making that meeting a webinar if this would make things easier. What is a webinar? For an answer, you could hit that link or turn to Search Engine Journal, which states: “Put simply, a webinar is an online seminar.”
Remember: the more your workers have to rearrange their schedules, the more productivity your business as a whole could lose as a result.
Find ways to reduce energy consumption
You could be pleasantly surprised by how much money you are able to save on energy costs simply through replacing much of your meeting gear with more modern, energy-efficient equipment.
Investing in battery-powered lights, for example, can assist you in netting long-term savings despite the upfront cost you might have to incur in order to obtain those lights in the first place.
Veeramachineni Lalitha
I am Finance Content Writer. I write Personal Finance, banking, investment, and insurance related content for top clients including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Edelweiss, ICICI BANK and IDFC FIRST Bank. My experience details : Linkedin