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356 An HR Guide to Workplace Fraud and Criminal Behaviour

If your research indicates that there are other people, supposedly on the power player’s side,
that don’t really agree with him, consider the ways that you can invite them to the meeting
even though their presence may not be justified. On the other hand, if there are people sup-
posedly in your team that might subvert you, try to make sure that they are excluded.

Your chance of success in any meeting varies directly with the number of participants who
support your view

Always consider the cost of the meeting. If it involves, lawyers, consultants or even inves-
tigators who charge an hourly rate, don’t agree to their attendance en masse.

Always consider the cost of meetings

If you are calling the meeting, you can list the participants and move forward on that basis.
If you are a guest, you might suggest rearranging the meeting for a date when you know the
power player is not available or try some other ruse to swing the balance in your favour. If you
have no alternative but to attend in a minority position, don’t panic, as all is not lost.

Getting the background

If you don’t already know it, obtain as much background as possible on the proposed partici-
pants, including their career histories and private interests (see page [xref]). As always, even
small details can make the difference and may be used to your advantage.
If you discover that the opposing power player disappears every Thursday afternoon to play golf,
and you want a nice brief meeting, you should try and fix it on a Thursday morning.

You should carefully research the rules of formal meetings and understand the procedures, so
that you know more about them than the other participants. Then, if you want to create a critical
parent role, you can point out some procedural gaffe and throw your opponents off track.

Attention to detail pays dividends.
The harder you work, the luckier you become

Strategy
Fight, flight or appease

Deciding on your strategy is akin to specifying an investigations plan. You should think about
this carefully and there are essentially three options which, as always, are based on the animal
instincts of fight, flight or appease. Are you going to swing the meeting in you favour by taking
a tough attacking position or by playing possum? You must decide.

Decide on your strategy

Be prepared to alter course during the meeting if your approach does not work, but re-
member, changing from an attacking role to appeasement can be a serious climbdown, so to
successfully attack, you must be absolutely sure of your facts and remain committed.

Strong and weak points
If you are in a very strong position, you may decide to go for a knockout blow using a very
powerful opening. Alternatively, you may let your opponents make the running and then