Who must be in the room?

A room full of people can still disperse without anything being finalized. The reason is often not a lack of opinions, but a lack of the right people. Before the first working session, the question to ask is: who will make the final decision according to the true authority of this organization, and who can block that decision even if no one has their name written anywhere?

Four mandatory groups that must be present

Not everyone needs to be in the room, but if any of the following four groups are missing, the meeting will only provide recommendations, not decisions.

• The true decision-maker by authority. This is not necessarily the highest title holder on the business card. This is the person whom everyone in the organization implicitly waits for their nod before proceeding. If that person is absent, the results of the meeting must still await their approval. Invite them into the room from the start, do not invite them in later to "confirm."
• The person with veto power (the authority to say no). In small and medium enterprises, this person often does not have a title: the owner’s spouse, parent, equity stakeholder, long-time chief accountant, or the largest agent. They do not sign, but they can block. The later veto power appears, the more costly it becomes: at the direction finalization meeting, it costs one session, while at the final approval meeting, it can nullify an entire phase of work.
• Data holder. Decisions are made based on information, not on emotions. Whoever holds the numbers, context, and history that the decision must reference must be present. Without them, the discussion will revolve around assumptions.
• Executor. This is the group that is often overlooked. Those who are informed of the results rather than involved from the beginning often do not feel ownership of the decision. True consensus comes from those who will execute, not from outsiders imposing it.

Define roles clearly from the start.

The DACI framework (a popular decision-making framework developed by Atlassian, not the only rule) divides participants into four groups: Approver, Driver, Contributor, and Informed. This framework is designed for organizations with clear titles and processes. In small and medium enterprises, these roles often hide under unnamed relationships, so it is necessary to ask each person individually before the meeting to know who actually holds which role.

It is important to clearly announce roles at the beginning of the meeting. If someone in the room does not know whether they are in the Contributor role or the decision-making role, they will either remain silent when they need to speak up or argue unnecessarily. Both scenarios waste time.

Clearly state the authority level of the team at the beginning of the meeting so that no one has incorrect expectations about their role being to finalize or just provide input.

Lucid Meetings, The Leader's Guide for Making Decisions in Meetings.

When to choose AI in the room

Common mistakes that waste the session

• Invite by title rather than true authority. The room is full of directors, but no one is recognized as the final decision-maker on the topic being discussed. As a result, everyone talks to each other, and no one dares to make a decision.
• Forget to invite the executor. After making a decision and assigning tasks, the executor may respond, "I can't do this because..." and the entire process has to be redone. If they had been in the room from the start, that issue would have been addressed in time.
• To have the person with veto power absent. This is the least discussed risk. Many businesses have individuals who do not hold official roles, but all decisions must go through them. If that person is absent, the decision just made can still be overturned later.

How to prepare the list

Before the working session, it is advisable to briefly ask the founder and a few key members three questions: what decision needs to be made, who is the final decision-maker by true authority, and who must be present for that decision to be executed. Add one difficult but worthwhile question: besides you, who else can stop this work?

If a business is truly run by one owner alone, there is no need to fabricate additional people; one question is enough. If the organization has a written approval process, the map is already there, and the task is just to read it. The person with blocking authority should be brought in early, at a predetermined point, rather than waiting until the final approval meeting. Those who only provide feedback should be heard separately, apart from the decision-making session.

If you are not sure who needs to be in the upcoming meeting, start with the simplest question: "If this person is absent, can this meeting still finalize anything?" If the answer is no, they need to be present.

This article is for reference. The scope, pricing, and specific commitments of Sinh Vũ are detailed in the proposal and signed contract.