The desire to reduce the duration and number of useless, time-wasting meeting is - I believe - universal. Earlier this week the Financial Review reported on a European survey that found:

“long and pointless meetings are the main cause of office rage”

And if people look like they are paying attention in meetings, they are equally as likely to be writing a Xmas card list, setting goals for their new business or texting their friends under the table.

The volume of literature on making meetings more effective is astounding. And yet - the problem persists. Some companies like Walmart, only have stand up meetings - the theory being that you’ll wrap things up faster if you don’t get to sit down.

So a smart guy (Peter Murmann) from the Australian School of Business has developed the Meeting Meter - a tool that calculates the hourly cost of all participants in a meeting, while the meeting is occurring. In a true stroke of genius, the cost is shown on-screen, and as the meeting progresses, the dollars ratchet upwards.

It wouldn’t take long for people to finish up a meeting when they realise it’s costing thousands of dollars to have the people sitting around the table.

Smart idea….