They Ain't Free, No, Siree!

1. Meetings. Meetings aren't free; they have a cost. That cost is the number of people attending x length of time attending x employee cost. Then consider the output of that meeting, the return. That of course gives you the RoI. No, meetings aren't free.
2. E-mail. E-mail isn't free; they have a cost. It's the cost of distraction. Even if someone is very organised about how they attend to their mail, they are eventually distracted when they open it. And was that distraction (1) worth it (2) minimised? Now multiply up the number of people in an organisation whose focus is being disrupted by poorly constructed and/or unnecessarily constructed e-mail. No, e-mail isn't free.
3. Objectives. Any experienced employee knows to build their career, jump the hoops and get the bonus they must hit their objectives. And they will do all in their power to achieve that. If they are tasked with running a series of roadshows, they will do it.  Bring in a certain level of revenue, they'll do it.  Unfortunately many objectives are off/on. They rarely talk about how or quality or interdependence. What about the quality of the roadshow? What about the profitability of the business? No, poorly constructed objectives are not free; they have a cost.