When in a (team) meeting do you ensure every member and participant to be heard and to have their say? How can you involve everyone and also invite the more introverted team members to speak up?

Here is some food for thought and some things to consider:

• Do a visual and verbal check-in: Greet every member with their names when they enter the physical or digital space. Allow every participant to verbally check-in at the beginning of the meeting. Both may sound minimal but thanks to the “I see you and I hear you” you make participants feel welcome.
• Work in small groups: If you have a meeting or workshop with too many participants break them up into smaller groups. By doing so, you double the effect: Participants are less likely to mentally drop out; the more introverted colleagues feel invited to speak up.
• When in plenary, ensure a balance of voice in the room. In a digital space, this can happen by feeding in thoughts and ideas through the chat function. In a physical space this can happen by regularly asking everyone to note down ideas and to put them up on a board.

[Photo by Lucas Prado on Pexels]