“How do I get the quiet people to talk in the meeting? It’s always the same people doing the talking, I don’t want to single people out but how can we hear their ideas too”.

Sound familiar?

Some tips to help:

1. Create an agreement at the start of the meeting. Ask everyone ‘what atmosphere do you want to create in this room?’, ‘what can the team count on from you today’? This encourages the whole room to take responsibility for what they want. Emphasise how important all voices are.

2. Create groups within groups. Start with a conversation in pairs, it will ease people into the room. Ask each person to introduce the other, sometimes it’s less intense introducing someone else than having to introduce yourself. During a brainstorm or ideas creation session, have two or three smaller groups so that all voices have more of an opportunity to be heard. Create different groups, and mix people around, it will help prevent silos and cliques and keep things moving.

3. Your language as a facilitator is so important. Phrases like ‘that part of the room feels quiet right now, what would you like to add?’ or ‘we haven’t heard from the technical team, what stands out for you in this discussion?’. Be mindful of singling out individuals in front of the group. Putting people on the spot can backfire. If you need to do it, do it in a considerate way, reminding the whole group of how important different voices are.

4. Encourage ‘bottom-lining’. We all know the ones in a group who love to talk, it can make it very difficult to find a space for other voices to come through. Bottom lining encourages simplicity and less waffling.

5. And lastly if you’re facilitating the meeting, be aware of any bias you hold. You need to be the helicopter above the group, helping them see whatever it is they need to. Not an easy role to play particularly when you may be invested in the group. Consider bringing in an independent facilitator who can create space for different conversations, or ask someone from another team to support you.

We all contribute in different ways, create meeting spaces to encourage that, even if it means you have to do things a little differently.

Sally Powell is a professional leadership coach, passionate about creating space for teams and individuals to think and act differently.