[thomk]

Calling on quiet (but attentive) members of my team to speak up in meetings where we need to make a decision.

There will be a pause in the conversation and (as if its my meeting) I'll say something like generic "Jim what do you think?" No matter what he says I acknowledge it and thank him.

A few things happen. 1. It removes the internal conflict Jim was having if he should speak up or not. 2. It gives him 'the floor' so he knows for a minute he will be heard. Others are probably wondering why I called on him and want to hear what he has to say. 3. His answer might not be directly related, however it often sets off a chain of conversation that often does lead to creative answers.

People actually do like to contribute. The way I look at it is we're not leaving this room until I feel like we have at least heard every idea good or bad. Those set of ideas are our collective intelligence at that moment and I fully intend on leveraging it.

[lastpost93]

Coincidentally, there’s an interview with Tim Cook where he mentions this exact concept when asked about leadership.

https://youtu.be/9jhPm_2WYH8

24:00

[reinkaos]

Thanks for that. I'm one of the "Jims" of the world and one of my superiors started doing that to me recently.

As an introvert in a team of very talkative and opinionated people it is often hard to speak up. Having other people creating space for me to speak has been very helpful.

[volkk]

how can you tell they're attentive?

[muzani]

You can tell by body language normally. There's a kind of look when someone is off thinking about other things, and there's another kind of look when they're listening to every word.

[thomk]

It's obvious they are listening to what is going on. They aren't looking at screens or doodling. My rule is if in you are in my meeting: you should be there and are a valuable member of a team, so let's see what you think.