Meeting Myths: The Well-Intended, Toxic Trait that Kills Inclusion
We all want to run productive meetings. But between playing Tetris with C-suite calendar blocks, nailing an airtight agenda and figuring out how to blur out your laundry hanging in the background – fussing over the meeting guest list feels like the last of your worries. It seems easier to invite everyone and just let them decide if they want to come.
If we include everyone in the meeting invite, we streamline our workload, give employees autonomy and avoid excluding people. All signs of a strong leader, right?
Not quite.
Over-inviting can negate all those feel-good leadership qualities. It dilutes engagement. It makes it easy to quietly withdraw. Camera = off. Multitask mode = on.
Alternatively, getting a bit picky about your guest list can make a huge difference. Smaller, more focused meetings, with eight or fewer participants, create space where every voice is heard, and contributions matter. However, employees slipping into disengagement isn’t magically solved with a small guest list.
Let's dive into a few practical employee engagement strategies (we’re all about keeping it practical) to make your meetings more inclusive and effective.
Less is More: Why Fewer Attendees Lead to More Productive Meetings
When planning a meeting, it’s tempting to invite everyone who might be connected to the meeting content. But less - and I cannot stress this enough - is really more.
When coordinating a meeting invite, know your top three objectives. For each objective, ask yourself, “Whose input is non-negotiable to achieve this?.”
Focus on roles, not individuals—think about who can help make the decision or contribute meaningfully. There is bound to be meeting FOMO when this happens, so it’s important to have conversations with stakeholders who aren’t in the meeting.
It can be a delicate conversation, which is why created templates for you to navigate the topic with grace in our latest Inclusive Meetings Guide that you can download here. By inviting a few key people, you keep the conversation tight, and lively and ensure everyone has a chance to speak. Quality trumps quantity in this arena.
Make Everyone Feel Welcome: Focus on Quality Over Quantity in Meetings
About 65% of human communication is body language. Warmth goes a long way. Non-verbal signals or physical cues is perhaps one of your most underrated employee engagement tools. There are a few simple ways to create a friendly atmosphere, without having to call your team “a family” (please, please don’t do this).
- Clear Agenda: Change your agenda from topics to questions. This helps you decide who really needs to be there. Invite only the “question-answerers” and “decision-makers".
- Get Personal: Welcome each attendee by name as they enter the room and ensure seating accommodates everyone. It sets the stage for inclusion before the meeting even begins.
- To get the rest of our pre-, during and post-meeting tips, download our full guide here.
Don’t Forget About Others: How to Engage Those Not in the Meeting Room
Paradoxically, as your meetings get more inclusive, they also become more exclusive. Most employees will see this as time “won back” - but there will likely be some that don’t. It can be a difficult conversation to navigate, and people will have varying reactions.
To keep everyone in the loop and avoid hard feelings, ask for their thoughts before the meeting. At the beginning of this blog post, we promised practical strategies, and we stand on business – which is why we’re building a library of email and messaging templates to guide you through these tough, but necessary conversations. In the meantime, you can find them in our downloadable guide here.
Conclusion: Shaping an Inclusive, Productive Meeting Culture
Leading an inclusive workplace culture is a muscle that takes time to develop. Figure out what works and what doesn’t by getting regular feedback from your team (ahem, Kairos’ software does all of this - automatically and anonymously).
Remember, it’s not about how many people are in the room, but how engaged everyone feels. When you invite the right people and encourage input from everyone, you can create meetings that trigger great ideas, instead of an internal groan, from your guests.
Want to know who to invite (and who not to invite) to your next meeting? We’re putting together a complete guide on inclusive meetings, using experiences and stories from people like you.
We’d love to hear from you! Email us your challenges, stories and questions at hello@meetkairos.com.
Additionally, you can also book a 15-minute Sounding Board session with our team to get personalized advice on your unique situation.