Shopify Shames Employees With Cost Calculator for Pointless Meetings
The company’s new internal tool is part of a push to boost productivity by removing a projected 322,000 hours of meetings this year.
Kaz Nejatian, chief operating officer at Shopify Inc., during the Collision conference in Toronto.
Photographer: Chloe Ellingson/BloombergTime is money, and Shopify Inc. wants its workers to understand that maxim applies to pointless meetings, too.
The Canadian e-commerce company has rolled out a calculator embedded in employees’ calendar app that estimates the cost of any meeting with three or more people. The tool uses average compensation data across roles and disciplines, along with meeting length and attendee count, to put a price tag on the event. A typical 30 minute endeavor with three employees can run from $700 up to $1,600. Adding an executive — like Chief Operating Officer Kaz Nejatian, who built the program during a company-wide hack day — can shoot the cost above $2,000.