How to Create Space for Every Voice — Even Our Own
So often we are forced by others — or even ourselves — to voice our perspective or solution before we are ready.
I remember being pulled aside one time by my boss who let me know that I wasn’t speaking up enough at meetings.
What he didn’t understand — and I think I didn’t fully appreciate either at the time — was that I needed time and space to let things process.
I needed time, space and moving on to something else to allow my perspective and new answers to show up. If I didn’t have something important to say, I didn’t say anything.
In my interview How to Build Cohesive Teams that Have Impact with Rob Allen, I was really struck by all the ways that Rob understands this dynamic.
Rob says that not only do his teams let people finish before speaking, but they also “wait to give a quiet, open space before the next person jumps in just to ensure someone with a more restrained voice has space to contribute.”
Then he takes it even further and says that it’s also important to give other opportunities to give feedback. He suggests using tools like Slack, direct message, or even hanging back after a meeting has ended to give people an opportunity to come up and speak.
Writing this post also reminded me of the following story Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir shared in a past interview with me.
When Gandhi was out in the countryside, government officials came to see him because there was trouble going on somewhere. He would just ask them to wait while he was feeding the goat or talking to the kids. He’d then take all the time that he needed to think through the answer to their requests to synchronize his intuition, experience, and knowledge of the situation. Then he’d come back to them with maybe three sentences or something well thought through. So I think it’s giving people the ways and tools in order to find this harmony are very important. We all need time to reflect, let go of control, and allow solutions to come to us.
What about you?
How do you allow your voice and the voice of others to be heard?
To your great work life & success!
Bill Fox
Co-Founder
About Bill Fox
I help leadership teams achieve their most important strategic objectives by introducing a forward thinking approach. This approach helps people discover how to advance beyond best practices, working harder or even smarter in the post Industrial Era. In my interview series, Exploring Forward-Thinking Workplaces, I lead a new type of conversation for the 21st Century with global business and thought leaders that is uncovering exciting new solutions to our most vexing workplace challenges.
My new book The Future of the Workplace will be published by Apress on September 29, 2019 and is available for pre-order now at Amazon.
To learn more or get in touch, visit https://billfox.co.
When I organize important meetings with a client, I often place an evening of separation between the part of the meeting where people are expected to listen and discuss and absorb, and the part of the meeting where people are expected to express creative thoughts and build on each other's ideas. I, personally, benefit greatly from "sleeping on it," and believe others - even (especially?) the fast-thinkers among us - can as well.
So true. Had many similar experiences. Where I needed time to connect the dots and to reflect on the bigger picture. But, there is so much pressure to directly voice one's opinion. Whereas I feel that that is where a lot of mistakes are made. It is the same misconception as having idle time. Idle time opens up space for mental processes to be finished for intuitive ideas to arise. And yet society sees is as a form of laziness.