Page 24 - Leadership Basics 10

How Large Should the Group Be?

Generally speaking, meetings have too many people at them. A greater degree of selectivity is needed
if they are to become more productive. We all tend to assume that people have to be there because of
their position or because of historical precedent. To be truly effective however we have to dispense
with outdated notions and move towards practices which are enabling mechanisms ‐ to ensure
meetings really work.

One of the factors which might be considered is the complexity of the task. It is likely that problems
with numerous dimensions require the contributions of a larger number of people. Bear in mind
though that meetings become more unmanageable as the number increases, making the process
counter‐productive. Even if you do need more people to be involved, they do not necessarily have to
be at every meeting. You may indeed call individuals in for specific items at scheduled times. This
ensures that their time is not wasted sitting through items which are irrelevant to them, and that the
business of the meeting is not impeded by the presence of too many people.
Another factor is the amount of participation which is expected of members. Are some there for the
weekly ‘bitch’ or are they in attendance to make a valuable input which could not be made in any way
other than by attendance at the meeting? Ideally, each person should have something to bring,
information or the results of tasks, and they should generally leave with specific things to do.

Most committees have an average of eight members; this is really too large and considerably reduces
the effectiveness of the group in achieving tasks. Different studies have produced different 'ideal'
numbers, but there is a general level of agreement that the smaller the group, the better the quality of
work. For us, a meeting size of five or six has generally led to effective meetings, but a lot depends not
only on the respective contributions in terms of expertise, but also the behaviour of individuals. If the
membership is much greater, there is less participation time, an increased chance of conflicts and
subdivisions, and generally more people to listen to.

Summary:
 Consider inviting relevant people to the part of the meeting which concerns them.

 Each person should generally have something to bring and leave with something to do.
 Keep the group as small as possible.

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