3. In meetings, speaking up isn’t democratic
Translated from the French original.
“The spoken word isn’t democratic.”
That sentence struck me while listening to a podcast interview with Matthieu BEUCHER, the CEO of Klaxoon.
Indeed, in any group, not everyone is equally at ease speaking up and getting their point of view heard. Should we conclude, then, that those who stay quiet have nothing interesting to say?
A little vintage video on the subject.
So how do you stop discussions being dominated by a handful of people?
Here are two simple things I suggest you put into practice:
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first of all, ask for it: “on this topic, I’d like to be able to hear from everyone”
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then vary your facilitation methods, and in particular seize every opportunity that comes your way to do so: “let’s pause for a moment and everyone take the time to gather their thoughts before I go round the table so each of you can share your point of view” — or, when meeting remotely, “could you put your ideas in the chat?”
My experience tells me this will help you rebalance contributions.
The written word isn’t democratic either. Especially for all those who hesitate to reveal the difficulties they may have with spelling and syntax.
In short, nothing is simple.
But keep this in mind:
Make the talkers think.
Make the thinkers talk.
Ecole Internationale de Réuniologie
#reuniologie #meeting #louisvareille #ecoleinternationaledereuniologie #reunionite #reuniologue #reunion
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