You're Invited to a Meeting...

Twenty-five years ago here in Kuala Lumpur, the public sector and private sector employees would take off from work an hour apart.  Public sector employees took off at 4:30 and private sector employees took off at 5:30.  The ostensible reason for this was to minimize rush-hour traffic.
 
Today this seems like a fantasy.  For one thing, with the number of cars on the road, rush-hour traffic is here to stay.  Furthermore, with the amount of work that today’s employees say they need to do, taking off at 6:30, 7:30 and even 9:00pm has become the norm.  Look around your office.  Your staff have obvious demands on their time.

This being true, the last thing your staff wants is to attend another meeting where their presence isn’t required.  Meetings take time, and that time must be spent productively for your staff to feel a sense of purpose and achievement.
 
That’s why choosing the list of attendees thoughtfully and carefully is important to the success of your business meetings.  Having the right people there ensures that everyone’s time is invested into a common purpose and that all affected stakeholders can share in the decision-making process.
 

People who should be invited to attend your meetings primarily include the subject matter experts and the key decision makers.  These are the people who have the knowledge and the data relative to the purpose of the meeting and key senior management who will authorize decisions made in the outcome.  Additionally, representatives of the staff whose jobs are directly affected by the objectives of the meeting should attend.  These are the people who can provide input necessary to influence the decision-making process.

Some of your staff should not be invited to attend.  These include the people who are not affected by the meeting’s objectives as these staff will find it difficult to contribute to the process.  Very often you may have people attending your meetings who remain silent throughout, and although you may wish that they’d contribute, is it possible that they have no ownership in the meeting and, as a result, have nothing to invest?  Think about it.  Why have people at your meeting who neither need nor want to be there?

Having clear, goal-oriented objectives is the first step towards successful business meetings.  Having the right attendees who can invest in the process helps you ensure that these objectives are met.