Selecting participants

Deciding on who should be present at any meeting, depends on one question:

What is the purpose of the meeting?

Selecting participants may seem to be an obvious task, “but it’s surprising how many meetings occur without the right people there” (McNamara, n.d.). Those attending should include:

• People who will make the decision
• People with the information necessary to make the decision
• People who will be responsible for implementing the decision
• Representatives of groups who will benefit from the decision
  (Guffey, Rhodes, & Rogin, 2011, p. 52)

When choosing who will be attending the meeting, make sure to ask others for their opinions as well; there may be people that you are unaware of who are involved in the task at hand.

Something else to consider doing, that may help to set the collaborative tone, is mentioning in the meeting notice why each attendee is specifically being invited (one of the 4 points listed above) and why their attendance is important.

Having too many people present can be problematic. Each participant should have valuable input to bring to the meeting; if not, they do not need to be there.

The number of participants needed depends on the purpose of the meeting.

Purpose                                                          Ideal Size

Intense problem solving                                     5 or fewer

Problem identification                                       10 or fewer

Information reviews and presentations                30 or fewer

Motivational                                                     Unlimited

(Guffey, Rhodes, & Rogin, 2011, p. 52)

References:

Guffey, M. E., Rhodes, K., & Rogin, P. (2011). Business communication: process and product (6th Canadian ed.). Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd.

McNamara, C. (n.d.). Guidelines to conducting effective meetings. Retrieved from Free Management Library: http://managementhelp.org/misc/meeting-management.htm#anchor4294948302