Tips for Project Managers

We have all been at meetings where one or two people are very quiet and are not participating in the group discussions. We know they have valuable insights to contribute but how do we help them to participate? Here are few techniques for drawing out quieter group members.

Use a direct but gentle approach. Call on the person by name and ask for his or her input.

Ask everyone in the workshop to respond to the same question. Go around the group asking each person to respond.

Refer back to comments made earlier by quieter participants. This continues to draw them into the group.

Break the group into pairs or subgroups of three or four members each. Ask each small group to come up with responses and then report back to the whole group. This will give quieter participants an opportunity to speak.

Sometimes groups are accustomed to meeting leaders who act as authority figures, presenting, but not inviting participation. Overcome this by demonstrating willingness and skill in listening to and recording people’s ideas. After the group sees that it can be productive it will generally loosen up and discussion will flow more freely.

Do you have any comments to make about this list? We would really like to hear them. Please send them to resource@mentoric.com.