The cognitive bias here is in the mind of each person you meet with, who has different values that you can more easily address individually and/or who is more approachable in a small, informal setting.
From Wikipedia: "A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. An individual's construction of reality, not the objective input, may dictate their behavior in the world." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias
Example: Boss #1 has an irrational fear of short deadlines, so you meet with them ahead of time to assuage them that the deadline may seem short to them but it's actually quite normal because [reasons]. Boss #2 likes lead devs who keep their opinions to themselves, but your lead dev on the project is known to give unsolicited advice, so you meet with Boss #2 and tell them you'll try to switch to another lead dev after the project gets underway.
