[rank_math_breadcrumb]

Stop inviting everyone to your meeting!

  • York, City of York, England, United Kingdom

Author:  Leon Bamforth

Short Description

I was fantasising about a new Outlook feature today. No really, I  am that sad! Here was my fantasy, Stop inviting everyone whenever you create a new meeting event, there is a little box showing the estimated meeting cost. This cost should double as you double the length of the meeting and also double when […]

I was fantasising about a new Outlook feature today. No really, I  am that sad! Here was my fantasy, Stop inviting everyone whenever you create a new meeting event, there is a little box showing the estimated meeting cost.

This cost should double as you double the length of the meeting and also double when you add people to the meeting. I want it to come complete with a “ker-ching” sound each time it increases. Then before you send the meeting invite I want the software to ask you, “Is the problem you are trying to resolve at this meeting more valuable than the meeting cost?”

Whilst we are still meeting remotely, it is easier than ever to invite every man, woman and child* with a work email account to our meeting. At least when we were in the office, the physical size of the space we could find to have the meeting constrained our inclusive tendencies to invite everyone.
Effectively now there is no limit. Whilst attending those meetings I often whittle away the time by totting up in my head the actual cost someone is paying to enable that meeting to go ahead. Someone is paying the salary of everyone there. I then count how many of the 53 attendees actually joined in the discussion. I have been on meetings where the meeting length and the number and seniority of attendees meant the meeting cost will have run into the tens of thousands.

Stop inviting everyone to your meeting!

I’ve changed my mind. Rather than showing an estimated meeting cost we should just have a rule that the meeting organiser must eat a donut for every attendee that doesn’t speak. The first one or two will be tasty but I guarantee after donut 43 you will never invite someone “just in case” again so Stop inviting everyone.

It might feel comforting to have everyone there, “just in case” but there is always an opportunity cost for inviting people to a meeting and maybe, just maybe, they have something better to do…like their job.

The number of times I hear people say “I’m just in meetings back to back, when do I get the chance to do any work?” The point is, it can be really (really) stressful for people when they don’t feel they have time to produce some valuable output and it is incredibly demoralising. It turns out we naturally want to be valuable. That’s a good thing and we should encourage it by Stop inviting everyone.

I think we should have a meeting to discuss this proposal. Are you with me?
* If you have children working for you, there are laws against that so stop it.
Stop inviting everyone article by LEON BAMFORTH

Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Twitter

The articles, video and images embedded on these pages are from various speakers and talent.

These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.

Similar to Stop inviting everyone to your meeting!

WS Logo 512

This is a great article on Bringing the mountains home which addresses employee happiness and developing a beneficial culture that contributes to a business’ success. *** Written by Travis Gale, CEO of Appletree Catalyst Agency, which discusses how to deal with end-of-year burnout and how to ‘Bringing the mountains home’. This past festive season, I […]

  • Author: Travis Gale
WS Logo 512

Is email is killing your company your primary method for communicating with your colleagues? Then you have picked up a dangerous habit that is killing your company. Here’s why. 1. Email exacerbates knowledge hoarding What is your companies most important asset? Knowledge! It might not be booked to the balance sheet but your value is […]

  • Author: Colin Iles
rob caskie

28 DECEMBER 2021 ~ ST ANDREWS BAY, STROMNESS AND LEITH STATIONS by Rob Caskie “South Georgia is for those who grew up dreaming of a Garden of Eden, where you walk unharmed among abundant and fearless wildlife in a beautiful wilderness – an oasis of serenity in a world increasingly out of step with Nature.” […]

  • Author: Rob Caskie
Lorne Sulcas

The only way to succeed is to continuously improve and so, Success is simple The Japanese have a name for it: Kaizen. And Kaizen is all about consistency. If you’ll forgive/indulge me, let’s use me, and this photo, as the vehicle for this discussion here. It’s probably evident even from the above low res version […]

  • Author: Lorne Sulcas
Scott McKain

In other words, workers burned out by the “hustle culture” so recently prevalent have decided to either quit their jobs — or perhaps even more damaging to businesses — disengage themselves from where they are working.   In a brilliant article in a recent edition of the Wall St. Journal, Lindsay Ellis and Angela Yang reveal that what we’ve […]

  • Author: Scott McKain
WS Logo 512

On this day that has been set aside to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it’s important to note that Dr. King’s words still ring true today, It Really Boils Down to This. The power of truth does not decay with the passing of time. Dr. King’s message is proof that you […]

  • Author: Ron Garan
WS Logo 512

The Essence of Business is People , each and every business needs people to service and most of them are geared towards offering a product and or service to people. So therefore the foundation of any great business lies in the People Engagement and Growth strategy. There is an illusion that technology and apps will […]

  • Author: Billy Selekane
WS Logo 512

I have worked with corporate teams that measure what seems like everything. My concern with these teams isn’t what they are measuring, but rather what they are not measuring — leadership effectiveness. Teams measure on-time delivery, sales call per day, employee engagement, and so many more useful metrics. I’ve even seen a team measure coffee […]

  • Author: Credible Leaders

Our Mission

We are your partner creating memorable and engaging experiences that go beyond the event itself.

© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME