Break the Silence

Mike is exasperated. “After each team meeting, the team members go back to their space and continue life as usual or they find me in my office to share their concerns with the decision that they just made,“ Mike says.

Mike is new at his team leadership role and as a new leader he wanted and needed to get things done so, as Mike explains, “I told them that on my team silence equals agreement.”

In fact, we know that silence does not equal agreement, and we know that people are silent in meetings for many reasons. Here’s a list of potential reasons and solutions that Mike created to break the silence in order get the dialogue and commitment that’s necessary to really get things done.

Employees are to be seen and heard. In addition to helping Mike make the best decisions, the ability to be involved in the decision, to ask for clarity or have a valued opinion, promotes commitment to new ideas. And with that commitment from his team, Mike will get things done.