Getting Your Team to Speak Up

The way you phrase a question has tremendous power over how it is answered. I’ve been working with a few supervisors lately who, as everyone continues to work in a remote environment, are having a harder time getting their team to open up and contribute at team meetings.

Many times supervisors come to a meeting, introduce a new idea, and then ask their team, “What do you think?”

They want to engage in a lively discussion, but the phrasing of “What do you think?”, isn’t getting their team into a productive discussion mode.

This is probably because the question, “What do you think?”, doesn’t elicit the type of response the supervisor is looking for. Quite often, we ask our friends questions but we don’t really want to hear their opinion — we just want to share our thoughts. At a meeting, teammates may wonder if their supervisor really wants to know their opinion or just wants someone to listen to their own personal ideas. If you want your team to open up and contribute, there are more productive ways of asking people about their thoughts.

For example:
I’m trying to figure out the best move forward. Can we brainstorm ideas?

I’d appreciate it if people could share their experiences with this product. I’d love to hear any ideas on how to improve it.

I’m feeling a bit stuck on the next steps. Does anyone have suggestions they can share to help me out?

Instead of starting the meeting by asking people’s thoughts, tell them why you want to hear them. Do you want to brainstorm? Do you want a lively discussion? Are you feeling overwhelmed and need assistance?

Being clear with your questions, and the type of interaction you are seeking, will help people open up and contribute.

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