We don’t have too many meetings. We have far too many bad meetings.
Let’s talk about meetings where a decision needs to be made, or a problem reviewed, or a plan needs to be created. Who do you invite to this meeting, and why? What will each person contribute?
My observation is that the number of people who will dominate a meeting is the square root of the number of participants. If you have 4 people in the meeting, 2 of them will dominate. If you have 9 people, 3 of them will dominate. If you invite 25 people, 5 of them will dominate.
It’s even more noticeable in virtual meetings, because the delays of video and audio make it more difficult for someone to “break in” to a conversation dominated by others.
This is not an iron-clad rule but it’s a frequent pattern.
How to use this insight:
- Smaller meetings are probably better in many cases
- Use a small meeting to create a starting work product for a larger group to review
- Take steps in the meeting to make sure everyone is heard
- Keep discussions focused on topic – be willing to put less related ideas in a ‘parking lot’ for another time
- Lay out your expectations before the meeting and as it begins, saying “We need everyone’s input here”
