Page 301 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

354 An HR Guide to Workplace Fraud and Criminal Behaviour

Table 9.3 Types of meeting Potential for deception
Type of meeting
Examples Decision- Informational Task- Other
Variable
INTERNAL (involving employees) related related
Team meetings
Annual budget meetings High Low
Bid evaluation meetings
Detailed work on legal agreements High
EXTERNAL (involving third parties)
Negotiations High and always remain alert
Assessment of a vendor’s quality control
procedures
Discussion of a customer’s warrantee claims
Compliance meetings with regulatory
agencies

METHOD

Background

The steps suggested below are mainly relevant to important meetings where gross trickery or
deception is possible. However, they can be adapted to most meetings, including those of the
Hush Puppies Appreciation Society.

Determine your objectives

Before any meeting, decide on your objectives and success criteria by asking yourself ‘If I
could wave a magic wand, what result would I like to achieve?’ Then consider if the meeting
is necessary at all or whether the same or better results could be obtained by a telephone call,
exchange of memos or by doing nothing. It is usually to your advantage if you can avoid a
meeting and play golf instead.

HAVE YOU NOTICED? and returned home at midnight. The day
was a total waste of time. You told yourself
When you received the email inviting you to you would never do the same again, but
a meeting at your office in Birmingham, you you will. Why? Because we are all scared of
just knew it would be a waste of time. But, missing something.
being a diligent employee, you cancelled
your golf, got up at 5.30 in the morning

If you believe a meeting12 is going to be a waste of time, it invariably is
Unless you are convinced a meeting is necessary, don’t go

12 In both your business and private life