Twenty-Five Reasons to Use Decision Cost Analysis
Meeting costs are much too high to be treated as overhead or sunken costs

Meeting Cost Effectiveness:

Decision Group Effectiveness:

• Identify and quantify a all hidden meeting costs as well as the obvious ones
• Determine if meeting cost is over or under budget (if there is a budget)
• Given the meeting cost, assess the need, benefit and value of the meeting

• Ascertain whether decision requires a group of this size or of this organizational level
• Clarify whether decision group has  appropriate mix of organizational levels
• Establish that decision group has  appropriate experience and expertise

Decision Urgency – Importance – Impact – Risk:

Expected Return:

• Consider whether decision must wait for a face-to-face meeting
• Resolve if decision requires a prompt response, immediately and virtually - over the web
• Decide if meeting requires a neutral facilitator to plan and conduct the meeting process?
• Clarify whether meeting requires input or perspective of a subject matter expert, methodologist or consultant
• Given the cost, assess the level of risk and impact in making no decision or the wrong decision

• Verify whether meeting cost can be justified by the expected return
• Determine how many sales dollars must be generated to justify the meeting cost
• Compute how many units must be sold or produced to justify the meeting cost
• Evaluate what cost reductions are expected as a result of the meeting
• Gauge what productivity increases are expected as a result of the meeting?

Decision Environment:

Meeting Design Effectiveness:

• Assess whether the right participants been invited
• Given the cost, Clarify if decision could/should be made by an individual
• Review whether there are unsettled issues that might affect the decision and outcome
• Determine if decision requires a face-to-face meeting
• Decide if decision can be made virtually - over the web

• Determine whether appropriate agenda, methods, techniques, technologies have been selected
• Review whether decision group is proficient in the selected methods, techniques, technologies
• Evaluate whether decision group is prepared to conduct this meeting and make this decision
• Consider whether a meeting planner or event planner be engaged to organize the meeting