[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

Business success isn’t only reserved for large corporations with seemingly unlimited budgets to design customer experience. There are countless stories of small businesses that have grown to incredible heights simply by treating customers in a way that made them want to share their experience with family, friends, colleagues and on social media and encourage them […]

  • Author: Juanita Vorster
Peter van Kets

This The Incredible Desert Elephants expedition was the first in a series of five Beyond Expeditions with Jacques Marais and Peter van Kets. The idea was to mountain bike the edge of the incredible Namib Desert from Serra Cafema on the Angolan border to Swakopmund along the coast of Namibia. In this episode, we take […]

  • Author: Peter van Kets
Ken Okel

To unlock employee motivation, you may need to change how you communicate special requests. These are things like important changes to operating processes or customer service procedures. You need people to embrace a different way of doing things. It has to be done right and it needs to be executed right away. But you notice […]

  • Author: Ken Okel
Kim Lear

While The Future of Optimization has permeated our culture at large, it is Gen Z that has grown up in era when technology has enabled them to optimize everything from their sleep and their workouts to their study habits and even their intellect. Last year, I interviewed executives who work in the vitamin division of […]

  • Author: Kim Lear
Douglas Kruger - Culture and Leadership - Experts don't disqualify themselves

Yet Mr Gates’ programme itself is not inherently evil and why you can do better without slides. Ouch!’Death by PowerPoint.’ That’s the commonly used term. Jim Nelson, a man who served as a translator between the American and Russian troops in Bosnia, tells a story about the Russians watching with bemused fascination as their unlikely […]

  • Author: Douglas Kruger
WS Logo 512

This year I am participating in the One Foot Forward Challenge to raise money for Black Dog Institute. They bring together the strength of a medical research institute and a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by poor mental health. Their mission is to enable mentally healthier lives through innovations in […]

  • Author: Warwick Merry
WS Logo 512

I’ve been studying growth lately — human Growth Through Discomfort — and the most common models out there seem to be a bit misleading. Or, at the very least, incomplete. You’ve probably seen something that looks like this: It plays up the purely positive aspects of growth without at least an acknowledgment of the discomfort […]

  • Author: Sterling Hawkins
WS Logo 512

I am as outraged as you are when I heard the news of the violent death of Uyinene Mrwetyana in September last year, the heartbreak and the anguish felt physically unbearable.  I was overwhelmed by grief and outrage. I was consumed with terror for our daughters.  As I started to catch my breath and look […]

  • Author: Kim van Kets

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