How to Encourage Participation in Meetings

12 tips to get team members to speak up

12 facilitation tips to get teams to speak up.

Pic by mike166146 — licensed via AdobeStock

People don’t quit jobs; they quit unsafe cultures.

Silence is a symptom that something else is going on. Lack of participation is usually not a personal thing but a cultural issue.

Building Psychological Safety and practicing Radical Candor are vital to encourage participation and honest dialogue.

But how do you break the silence cycle?

Start small. Simple, small facilitation tools can create a huge impact.

Try these 12 facilitation techniques. I’ve used them in hundreds of workshops and meetings with amazing results. See which works for you.

1. Address the source of the silence

“Silence usually means people are holding back,” says Joseph Grenny, the coauthor of Crucial Conversations

Whether people are holding their thoughts to themselves or not being appropriately encouraged, it’s up to you to understand why.

Successful meetings (and team collaboration) requires diversity of thought. Groupthink, passive-a…