WEBVTT - Ask who needs to be involved

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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 to determine who needs to be involved in

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<v Speaker 1>a decision, then trust that person or those people to

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<v Speaker 1>make the decision, and don't slow things down by involving

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<v Speaker 1>others who don't have the time, the interest, or the insights.

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<v Speaker 1>As I have studied how people spend their time at work,

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<v Speaker 1>I am continually amazed at how much time is consumed

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<v Speaker 1>by meetings. People can literally be in meetings all day long,

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<v Speaker 1>back to back. That is one thing. If you are

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<v Speaker 1>leading the whole organization and every meeting requires a decision

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<v Speaker 1>from you, I am guessing that is not what is

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<v Speaker 1>going on with a lot of meetings. Some are just

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<v Speaker 1>misplaced methods of accountability. You have a meeting to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure people are still working on your project amid all

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<v Speaker 1>the other meetings. But others are about reaching decisions, which

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<v Speaker 1>is the point of a meeting. But these are meandering

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<v Speaker 1>and ineffective because way more in people are involved than

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<v Speaker 1>need to be. And I get it. People like inclusive cultures.

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<v Speaker 1>We don't want to have cliques like in the middle

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<v Speaker 1>school cafeteria. Everyone is welcome at the table. There is

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<v Speaker 1>also truth to the fact that diverse perspectives can sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>lead people to make better decisions, because a diverse group

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<v Speaker 1>of people probably won't all share the same blind spots.

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<v Speaker 1>But that doesn't mean everyone needs to be involved in

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<v Speaker 1>every decision. It is often wise to streamline decisions and

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<v Speaker 1>only involve the people who really know and care about it.

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<v Speaker 1>You can see how this might be true in your

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<v Speaker 1>personal life. If your family plans to get a new

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<v Speaker 1>TV but you don't watch a lot of TV, you

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<v Speaker 1>may want to weigh in on price and size, but

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<v Speaker 1>you probably don't need to be involved after that. If

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<v Speaker 1>you and your spouse agree that you want the kids

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<v Speaker 1>to do music lessons, but your spouse is a serious

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<v Speaker 1>musician and you are not, you might agree that your

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<v Speaker 1>spouse should select teachers or youth ensembles or camps and

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<v Speaker 1>the like, and you can just execute on their more

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<v Speaker 1>informed decisions. Likewise, at work, maybe you are arranging the

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<v Speaker 1>food for a work event. Your boss might want to

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<v Speaker 1>participate in the catering decision, but she might not so ask.

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<v Speaker 1>It is quite possible that she may simply want something

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<v Speaker 1>decent within budget. No need to keep meeting about it.

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<v Speaker 1>Now you have freed up time for both of you

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<v Speaker 1>by limiting how many people are involved in the decision.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes you do need a broad range of voices to participate,

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<v Speaker 1>but it is not practical for everyone who cares about

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<v Speaker 1>the decision to literally be at the table. That's when

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<v Speaker 1>it pays to make sure diverse perspectives are represented without

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<v Speaker 1>inviting every single person. Imagine a quartet with a soprano,

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<v Speaker 1>an alto, a tenor, and a base, not a sixty

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<v Speaker 1>person chorus. So if you are leading the effort to

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<v Speaker 1>revise your company's annual review process, you'd want to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure your advisory group includes people from various different departments

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<v Speaker 1>and from different backgrounds. But you see, can't include everyone

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<v Speaker 1>who cares about this. Too many people becomes unwieldy. If

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<v Speaker 1>a six person team spends twenty hours on the project,

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<v Speaker 1>that is one hundred twenty person hours. But if a

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<v Speaker 1>twelve person team tackles the project, it will probably take longer,

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps twenty five hours, since you have to listen to everyone,

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<v Speaker 1>and all those extra people will respond to everyone else

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<v Speaker 1>as well. If you do the math, that is three

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<v Speaker 1>hundred person hours two point five times as much staff capacity.

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<v Speaker 1>I am not sure that the ultimate decision is going

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<v Speaker 1>to be two point five times better. So instead of

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<v Speaker 1>involving more people, thoughtfully select as small a team as

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<v Speaker 1>would be reasonable, and then trust the team you have assembled.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are concerned about people feeling left out, publish

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<v Speaker 1>the list of team members so that everyone else could

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<v Speaker 1>share their ideas or concerns with them, But don't involve

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<v Speaker 1>everyone directly. All the gears will grind to a halt

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<v Speaker 1>when there is a decision to be made. Determine who

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<v Speaker 1>has the knowledge and insight needed to make a good

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<v Speaker 1>decision and who is interested in the decision, and leave

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<v Speaker 1>everyone else out of it. That is how you get

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<v Speaker 1>things done in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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