Meeting Expense Controller Quantifies Lost Worktime Value
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Solution Overview
Problem
Organizations face indirect costs due to lost worktime value (LWT) for employees attending meetings, which is not readily accounted for during meeting planning, ultimately impacting organizational performance.
Innovation Solution
A Meeting Expense and Verification (MEV) controller is implemented to calculate the meeting expense by determining the LWT value for each meeting attendee, considering factors like travel time for in-person meetings and productivity fractions for virtual meetings, and making recommendations to reduce meeting expenses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If organizations hold meetings with large groups of personnel attending in-person, then communication effectiveness is improved, but lost worktime value increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter of meeting attendance by calculating lost worktime value for each attendee based on their hourly rate and travel time, then uses these calculated parameters to automatically generate recommendations for reducing in-person attendance and converting to virtual meeting formats
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by calculating lost worktime value metrics and using them to generate automated recommendations that inform future meeting planning decisions, creating a closed-loop system where measurement drives improvement
2Productivity
If organizations hold meetings with large groups of personnel attending in-person, then face-to-face communication is enhanced, but indirect costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter of meeting cost analysis by calculating lost worktime value as a monetary metric (hourly rate × travel time + meeting duration), transforming qualitative communication benefits into quantifiable cost parameters that drive decision-making
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary mechanism (the lost worktime value calculator and recommendation engine) that mediates between the desire for effective in-person communication and the need to control indirect costs, providing data-driven recommendations for optimization
3Ease of operation
If meeting planners do not account for lost worktime value, then meeting planning is simplified, but organizational performance is adversely impacted
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by automatically calculating lost worktime value and generating optimization recommendations without requiring manual intervention from meeting planners, maintaining ease of operation while improving organizational performance through data-driven insights
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by calculating lost worktime value metrics before meetings are finalized, allowing meeting planners to make informed decisions about attendance and format in advance, thereby preventing performance loss rather than correcting it afterward
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes techniques that enable a Meeting Expense and Verification (MEV) controller to infer the meeting expense of a proposed meeting. The MEV controller may analyze a meeting request to identify meeting attendees, and in doing so, determine the meeting expense. In response to the meeting expense being greater than a predetermined meeting expense threshold, the MEV controller may suspend the meeting request.