You and about 20 of your coworkers are sitting around a crowded conference room table, discussing the details of some project. Some people are fighting for attention, trying to get a word in. Others won’t stop talking. Others have tuned the meeting out, retreating to their laptops or phones. At the end of the meeting, the only real outcome is the decision to schedule a follow-up meeting with a smaller group — a group that can actually make some decisions and execute on them.
How to Gracefully Exclude Coworkers from Meetings, Emails, and Projects
Because you can’t include everyone.
October 24, 2018
Summary.
Whether it’s a meeting, an email thread, or a project team, people need to be excluded from time to time. Being selective frees people up to join more urgent engagements, get creative work done, and stay focused on their most important tasks. How, then, can leaders do it gracefully? First, focus on key employees—it’s usually the most valuable employees who are most at risk of collaborative overload and burnout. Second, address their social needs. Being left off of certain projects might make some people feel unimportant, or overlooked. Make it clear that you’re trying to protect their time for other priorities. Finally, be clear. When people know in advance that you won’t be including them, and why, they’re less likely to be upset.