How much is a bad meeting really costing your business?
It is easy to think of a meeting room issue as a minor inconvenience. A microphone that does not work. A screen that will not connect. A video call that takes five minutes to get started. But those minutes add up.
Jabra research found that 75% of meetings experience at least one technology failure, with an average of 11 minutes lost per affected meeting. For two people earning the UK National Living Wage, just 10 minutes spent troubleshooting represents around £4.24 of working time. Across 10 meetings a week, that is more than £2,200 a year.
And that is before considering larger teams, multiple meeting rooms, meetings running over, decisions being delayed or IT teams being called in to resolve problems.
The cost of workplace technology is clearly an important consideration. Budgets are tighter, labour costs continue to increase and expectations around the modern workplace have changed significantly. But increasingly, the bigger issue is not the cost of the technology. It is the cost of getting it wrong.
The Workplace Has Changed
The way we work has changed. Most meetings now include people joining from different locations, whether that’s home, another office or on site with a client.
That means workplace technology is no longer just about putting a screen on the wall. Audio, cameras, connectivity, room layouts and acoustics all need to work together to create a good experience for everyone in the meeting.
This is why technology needs to be considered much earlier in a project. Through an AMED approach, Architecture, Mechanical, Electrical and Digital teams can work together from the outset, ensuring technology is properly integrated rather than added as an afterthought.
In today’s workplace, technology isn’t just equipment. It’s part of the infrastructure that helps people communicate, collaborate and get work done.
Paying for the same space twice
Workplace technology is still too often treated as something that can be simplified, delayed or added later in a project. The thinking is understandable:
“We only need something basic.”
“We can improve it later.”
“Let’s get operational first.”
On paper, it looks like a saving, in reality, it can simply move the cost further down the line. Modern workplace technology influences room layouts, acoustics, infrastructure, sightlines, user experience and how people actually use a space every day. It is no longer just equipment. It is part of the infrastructure.
When technology is considered too late, the consequences can be expensive.
Ceilings are finished. Joinery is complete. Power and data locations have been fixed. Furniture has been designed around the original requirements.
What could have been coordinated during the initial fit out can quickly become a retrofit project.
When a great looking room does not work
This is also why workplace technology needs specialist input. Electrical contractors, fit out teams, furniture providers and IT teams all play important roles within a workplace project. But AV is its own discipline. A room can look exceptional and still fail operationally. Displays can be too small. Cameras can miss participants. Audio coverage can be inconsistent. Sightlines can be compromised. Hybrid meetings can become frustrating rather than productive.
Nobody intended for it to happen, but the business still has to fix it and fixing it later costs more.
The right technology should make meetings easier
A well designed meeting environment should be simple to use, reliable, easy to manage and consistent across spaces. Most importantly, it should be designed around how people actually work. That means understanding how rooms may evolve, building flexibility into the infrastructure and involving workplace technology specialists early enough that decisions can be coordinated rather than corrected.
At Universal AV, we design and integrate AV solutions that support communication, collaboration and hybrid working, from meeting rooms and huddle spaces to boardrooms and larger conference environments. Because the technology should not become the focus of the meeting, it should simply work.
The bottom line
The most expensive workplace technology is not necessarily the system you buy. It can be the one you have to redesign the office around six months later.
Cut technology from the budget and you may end up buying it later. Treat it as an afterthought and you can end up paying for costly retrofitting. Bring in the right expertise too late and the cost of correction can far exceed the cost of coordination.
Modern workplaces rely on technology to function effectively. The question is not whether you invest in it, it is whether you invest once or keep paying for the same space over and over again.