Shopify cracks down on internal chats and meetings

Canada-based Shopify Inc has informed its employees of a new policy that calls for the cancellation of all regular meetings, the complete cancellation of all Wednesday meetings, and the requirement for employees to leave internal chat groups with a large number of participants. The agency reports Bloomberg with reference to the circular of the CEO of the company, Toby Lütke, which was sent to all employees of the company returning after the Christmas holidays and was at the disposal of the agency.

“When you agree to something, you give up everything else that you could do in the same time,” writes Mr. Lütke. According to him, endless meetings and conversations do not lead forward, but only “enable to maintain the status quo.”

Long and not always productive meetings have become the norm in a hybrid work environment. According to one study cited by Bloomberg, employees spend an average of 18 hours a week in all sorts of meetings. Large companies, according to the same study, lose up to $100 million a year due to non-essential meetings. This causes many companies to impose restrictions on meetings. Meta Platforms (recognized as extremist in Russia and banned), technology company Twilio Inc, home goods maker Clorox are among the companies that have introduced so-called no-meeting days.

The new Shopify meeting rules go into effect on January 5th and will be controlled by a dedicated bot.

Kirill Pryanichkin