Communication Hide-N-Seek: Who’s Invited to Your Meeting?
Seeing and hearing media reports on this week’s health care summit hosted by President Obama reminds me of a key concept about productive meetings of any kind: Your outcome depends on those offering input.
The concept is counter-intuitive. Leaders “large and in charge” of many endeavors—whether governments, schools, corporations, civic organizations, families—often make the mistake of selecting attendees with the wrong checklist in mind. That is, they invite people to their meetings who support them and think like they do. Result: They communicate with each other. They think alike. They come to consensus. They act.
The problem? Their action may or may not have the desired effect. They may or may not get buy-in from those who don’t think like they do. They may or may not make the best decisions or take the best course of action. In short, you might say they “hide out” with others of like mind and make decisions before those who oppose “find out” what has happened. Big mistake.
To prevent related problems, consider this checklist for inviting colleagues to your meetings:
- What experts do you need for background information?
- Whom do you need for support?
- Who will oppose or sabotage your cause or project if they don’t “get in on the ground floor”?
- Whose commitment do you need to implement or “make it happen”?
Strong leaders know that the starting point for a productive meeting means creating compelling conversations with the right people in the room.
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