WEBVTT - Meetings don't need spectators

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that meetings don't need spectators. Ideally, meetings only

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<v Speaker 1>happen if something is going to change in the world

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<v Speaker 1>as a result of the meeting happening. The only people

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<v Speaker 1>who should be at the meeting are the people needed

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<v Speaker 1>to make the decision that will result from the meeting. Otherwise,

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<v Speaker 1>the odds are good that you are wasting someone's time.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip, like others we will cover on this podcast

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<v Speaker 1>in upcoming episodes, comes from the book The Friction Project

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<v Speaker 1>by Robert Sutton and Huggy Row. They argue that organizational

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<v Speaker 1>friction can get in the way of productive output. Leaders

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<v Speaker 1>can help reduce friction by thinking of themselves as trustees

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<v Speaker 1>of their team's time, making sure it is spent wisely.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have ever had a corporate job, you won't

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<v Speaker 1>be surprised to find out that Sutton and Rau find

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<v Speaker 1>some meetings wasteful. One way to make them better, they

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<v Speaker 1>quote an initiative from Dropbox that instructed employees to invite

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<v Speaker 1>only key stakeholders, not spectators. I think this is a

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<v Speaker 1>great distinction. Some people are absolutely necessary for our meeting

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<v Speaker 1>to happen. If you are trying to get someone to

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<v Speaker 1>fund your proposal, you need whoever can decide to allocate

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<v Speaker 1>the money to be there. Also, if it is your proposal,

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<v Speaker 1>then you need to be there. That is straightforward enough.

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<v Speaker 1>But then there are other people. Sometimes people are there

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<v Speaker 1>just to listen or to weigh in when that can

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<v Speaker 1>be helpful, or to show that they think the topic

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<v Speaker 1>is important, or because they used to be on the

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<v Speaker 1>team and people think it would be good to invite them,

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<v Speaker 1>or who knows. They aren't necessary for the decision though,

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<v Speaker 1>and so they are spectators. And unfortunately, spectators aren't just

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<v Speaker 1>wasting their own time, they can waste the time of

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<v Speaker 1>people who do have to be there too, for starters,

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<v Speaker 1>When meetings include spectators, the meetings are simply harder to

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<v Speaker 1>schedule because you have to accommodate the stakeholders schedules and

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<v Speaker 1>the spectators. Plus, meetings with spectators take longer because more

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<v Speaker 1>people tend to talk. People in the meeting may feel

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<v Speaker 1>compelled to comment to signal the importance of their presence

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<v Speaker 1>or the issue, or to show that they are on task,

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<v Speaker 1>or even just that they take the matter seriously, even

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<v Speaker 1>if they don't have much new to add. Better to

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<v Speaker 1>limit the spectator phenomenon as much as possible. This isn't

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<v Speaker 1>a hot new musical. It is a meeting. There is

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<v Speaker 1>no need for an audience now. To be sure, this

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<v Speaker 1>is not an easy cultural switch. If your general corporate

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<v Speaker 1>vibe is inclusive, a word that sounds so nice but

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<v Speaker 1>can be impractical in practice. People can sometimes feel left

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<v Speaker 1>out when they are not included, so you may need

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<v Speaker 1>to reframe all this. You are not disinviting people. You

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<v Speaker 1>are freeing people up to do even more important work,

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<v Speaker 1>and so they don't need to stay late to get

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<v Speaker 1>real work done after all the meetings are over. I

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<v Speaker 1>know there is a certain desire to be in the

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<v Speaker 1>room when it happens, but hopefully people have their own

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<v Speaker 1>rooms where it is happening for other things, and when

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<v Speaker 1>people aren't going to dozens of meetings weekly, they have

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<v Speaker 1>time to actually prepare for each one. In the meantime.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to before breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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