[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!

wespeak global latest news

Unleashing the Power of Motivational Speakers: Jason Hewlett and David Allison In our journey towards personal and professional growth, we often find ourselves in need of inspiration, guidance, and a gentle push to unlock our full potential. This is where the power of motivational speakers comes into play. These dynamic individuals have the ability to […]

  • Author: WeSpeak Global
WS Logo 512

If you don’t prioritise your sleep, you are putting your health at risk. Good quality Sleep Weight Health is the diet pill we’ve all been looking for, the ultimate wrinkle cream and the secret to longevity. And guess what? — it’s free!   When we think of our beds and our pillows, we often forget […]

  • Author: Joni Peddie
Aga Bajer | The Culture Lab

How to Craft Powerful Stories that Can Drive Culture Change There is an old adage that says:   If you want to learn about a culture, listen to the stories. If you want to change a culture, change the stories.    I had a first-hand experience with this very early on in my career. The MD […]

  • Author: Aga Bajer
Keys to Build Resilience

As a keynote speaker on the topics of leadership, connection, resilience, and relationships, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about Choose Compassion Over Empathy over the past year and Why Leaders Must Choose Compassion Over Empathy. In fact, in my virtual presentations on personal connection, I quickly became aware of the buzzwords associated […]

  • Author: Colette Carlson
rachel sheerin

Thinking of Self Care When Burned Out as i was Heading to Dallas from Kansas City recently, I heard the familiar tone of the voice over the intercom start up: “Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve got a full flight to Dallas today…” Travel is BACK and flights are almost always full again, so I couldn’t be […]

  • Author: Rachel Sheerin
WS Logo 512

In life, we get so much input. It is hard to keep up. One piece of advice that I got was to Focus on your skills and on my strengths. We are not meant to be great at everything, but we all have talent. At times we try to improve skills we don’t have a […]

  • Author: Theresa Robberts
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

Don’t you just love when prospects ask you that question? – What Makes You Different? If you recognize the question as the true trap that it is, and you know how to deal with it, then you love it. If you don’t treat that question as the trap that it is, you’re toast.   For […]

  • Author: Merit Khan

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