1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,159 Speaker 1: tip is to determine who needs to be involved in 4 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: a decision, then trust that person or those people to 5 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: make the decision, and don't slow things down by involving 6 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: others who don't have the time, the interest, or the insights. 7 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: As I have studied how people spend their time at work, 8 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:46,159 Speaker 1: I am continually amazed at how much time is consumed 9 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: by meetings. People can literally be in meetings all day long, 10 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: back to back. That is one thing. If you are 11 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: leading the whole organization and every meeting requires a decision 12 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: from you, I am guessing that is not what is 13 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: going on with a lot of meetings. Some are just 14 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: misplaced methods of accountability. You have a meeting to make 15 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: sure people are still working on your project amid all 16 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: the other meetings. But others are about reaching decisions, which 17 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: is the point of a meeting. But these are meandering 18 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: and ineffective because way more in people are involved than 19 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: need to be. And I get it. People like inclusive cultures. 20 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: We don't want to have cliques like in the middle 21 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: school cafeteria. Everyone is welcome at the table. There is 22 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: also truth to the fact that diverse perspectives can sometimes 23 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: lead people to make better decisions, because a diverse group 24 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: of people probably won't all share the same blind spots. 25 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean everyone needs to be involved in 26 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: every decision. It is often wise to streamline decisions and 27 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: only involve the people who really know and care about it. 28 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: You can see how this might be true in your 29 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: personal life. If your family plans to get a new 30 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: TV but you don't watch a lot of TV, you 31 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: may want to weigh in on price and size, but 32 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,639 Speaker 1: you probably don't need to be involved after that. If 33 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: you and your spouse agree that you want the kids 34 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: to do music lessons, but your spouse is a serious 35 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: musician and you are not, you might agree that your 36 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: spouse should select teachers or youth ensembles or camps and 37 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: the like, and you can just execute on their more 38 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: informed decisions. Likewise, at work, maybe you are arranging the 39 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: food for a work event. Your boss might want to 40 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: participate in the catering decision, but she might not so ask. 41 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: It is quite possible that she may simply want something 42 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: decent within budget. No need to keep meeting about it. 43 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: Now you have freed up time for both of you 44 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: by limiting how many people are involved in the decision. 45 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: Sometimes you do need a broad range of voices to participate, 46 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: but it is not practical for everyone who cares about 47 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: the decision to literally be at the table. That's when 48 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: it pays to make sure diverse perspectives are represented without 49 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: inviting every single person. Imagine a quartet with a soprano, 50 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: an alto, a tenor, and a base, not a sixty 51 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: person chorus. So if you are leading the effort to 52 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: revise your company's annual review process, you'd want to make 53 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: sure your advisory group includes people from various different departments 54 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: and from different backgrounds. But you see, can't include everyone 55 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: who cares about this. Too many people becomes unwieldy. If 56 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: a six person team spends twenty hours on the project, 57 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: that is one hundred twenty person hours. But if a 58 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: twelve person team tackles the project, it will probably take longer, 59 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: perhaps twenty five hours, since you have to listen to everyone, 60 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: and all those extra people will respond to everyone else 61 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: as well. If you do the math, that is three 62 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: hundred person hours two point five times as much staff capacity. 63 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: I am not sure that the ultimate decision is going 64 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: to be two point five times better. So instead of 65 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: involving more people, thoughtfully select as small a team as 66 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: would be reasonable, and then trust the team you have assembled. 67 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 1: If you are concerned about people feeling left out, publish 68 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: the list of team members so that everyone else could 69 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: share their ideas or concerns with them, But don't involve 70 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: everyone directly. All the gears will grind to a halt 71 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: when there is a decision to be made. Determine who 72 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: has the knowledge and insight needed to make a good 73 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: decision and who is interested in the decision, and leave 74 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: everyone else out of it. That is how you get 75 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: things done in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, 76 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks 77 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, 78 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,160 Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura 79 00:05:55,279 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. 80 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, 81 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.