What do your meetings cost?
 
The following simple examples will help you to work out what your own meetings are costing you, and compare them to the reduction in costs using modern technology such as conference calling.
    
Example 1 - one meeting by telephone saves over €500
A company has offices in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Dublin. 4 managers wish to meet together for 90 minutes to discuss progress and issues on an ongoing project. They must all meet together, as each brings their own expertise to the table, which must be shared in real-time.

Option A: Conventional Meeting - all in Limerick
They agree to meet in Limerick as it's most central to all of them. They drive as follows:
Cork to Limerick:
100 km – about 1 hour 33 mins*
Galway to Limerick:
100 km – about 1 hour 32 mins*
Dublin to Limerick:
194 km – about 2 hours 33 mins*
(* from Google maps)
and meet at 12pm for 90 minutes, then returning to Cork, Galway and Dublin
Total mileage driven: 588km. Taking a mileage rate of .50c per mile this costs €294. Hours spent in the car and not working total 11 hours. Their average annual salary is €45,000 which equates to €22 per hour (before PAYE) each, which is €242 in productive hours lost. Calculating the environmental cost of all that driving using www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk and assuming typical family saloon cars, the carbon emissions come to 0.111 tonnes of CO2 emitted.
Total Meeting Cost: €536
Total Environmental Cost: 0.111 tonnes of CO2 emitted.

Option B: Telephone Conference
90 minutes at 5c per-minute per-caller
90 x 4 x €0.05 = €18
Total Meeting Cost: €18
Total Environmental Cost: 0.0 tonnes of CO2 emitted.


Example 2 - one meeting by telephone saves nearly €1,000
A company has offices in Dublin, London and Scotland. 3 managers wish to meet together for 90 minutes to discuss progress and issues on an ongoing project. They must all meet together, as each brings their own expertise to the table, which must be shared in real-time.

Option A: Conventional Meeting - all in Dublin
They agree to meet in Dublin, travelling as follows:
Return flight from Edinburgh to Dublin - €188
Return flight from London to Dublin - €215
Taxi from Dublin airport to head office in Blackrock - €40 (each)
Taxi from Blackrock to airport - €40 (each)
Total travel cost is €563. Hours spent travelling and not working total 19.5 hours.Their average annual salary is €45,000 which equates to €22 per hour (before PAYE) each, which is €429 in productive hours lost. Calculating the environmental cost using www.climatecare.org, a total of 0.23 tonnes of CO2 is emitted.

Total Meeting Cost: €992
Total Environmental Cost: 0.23 tonnes of CO2 emitted.

Option B: Telephone Conference
90 minutes at 10c per-minute per-caller
90 x 3 x €0.05 = €13.50

Total Meeting Cost: €13.50
Total Environmental Cost: 0.0 tonnes of CO2 emitted.