“I wish I had more meetings on my calendar today,” said no one, ever.
In a work culture that is often inundated with meetings, we’ve talked about how to make meetings more productive, how to make them shorter, and even how to eliminate the needless ones. But, as counterintuitive as it sounds, there are situations in which being left out of a meeting is more painful than being in it.
In this HBR article, executive coach Nina A. Bowman notes, “There are times that being left off the invitation list can sting. Intellectually, you may understand the logic, but that’s little consolation when you want to be included. It may hurt even more when you realize that an invitation snub sends signals to your team and colleagues, who may wonder, ‘Why isn’t our boss in that meeting? Is there a shift of power happening in the organization?’”
In these situations, Bowman suggests taking the necessary steps to understand why you don’t have a seat at the table. Read the article for her tips for professionals to assess their own value and showcase why they should be invited to important meetings. She also provides common scenarios, like the peer who intentionally excludes others, and specific tactics for handling each one.
