How to Manage Voice and Silence in Teams

Most strategic decision-making at work happens in team meetings. Diversity of ideas is key to making good decisions. However, we have all been in meetings where some people invariably seem to dominate the airtime, while others remain quiet. In my research, I have found that in teams where there was a single person or a subset of vocal people, team performance was lower than in teams where more people spoke up. However, the personality of the dominant speaker made a difference. When that person was reflective and took the time to deliberate and consider others’ views, even teams with fewer people speaking up still performed well.

How can team leaders encourage voice in meetings

To encourage the views of more people in the team and to ensure voices are heard, do the following:

1. Create an environment of psychological safety to present differing views and dissents,  especially when new hires and junior members are in meetings. You can do this by overtly asking members to stop and collectively reflect on the communication processes. Take feedback from them on how to run the meeting and adopt a format where every member is asked for specific feedback relevant to his/her expertise. For example, you can make it a point to pass around an object that symbolizes a mike – so that everyone in the room gets a chance to speak up.
2. Encourage talkative team members to be more deliberative and integrative.  Through follow-up questions, you can do that where you ask them to overtly link what they say to what others have said in a meeting. As the team leader, you can also gather ideas ahead of the meeting from the quiet members and present and integrate their perspectives during the team meeting.

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