When's A Meeting Got Too Many Attendees?

Music to the perennially puerile male ear. No less a light than top psychology Professor Robin Dunbar this week states that for the sake of our wellbeing, we men must spend more time in the pub with our mates. The man’s a genius.

Beyond the obvious headline grabbing (alcohol industry funded) findings (like “men must meet up in person twice a week with four friends and ‘do stuff'”), I did pick up on one element of distinct Sales interest.

Apparently, once a group swells beyond five people, then the impact from that get-together begins to wane.

It seems that then the laughter levels drop, and as a consequence, beneficial endorphin amounts fall. And we don’t feel as good as we perhaps could.

This strikes me as similar to a business environment.

Get you, a colleague, and a couple of prospects around a table and the grey matter crackles.

More than five ’round that table, and things can begin to feel a tad staid and stilted.

Ideas, interaction and energy never seem to reach the heights you crave.

So next time you send out meeting invites prospectside, it’s worth a moment to just check. . . must you really fill the room with so many people?