Engagement is in Your Control

How do we get engagement in our meetings?

What do you do when someone doesn’t say anything in a meeting? When I first started considering this question I thought that a person’s engagement had to do with their personality type: are they an introvert or an extrovert? After doing some scientifically valid research (just kidding, I did a poll on LinkedIN and Facebook) I learned that you all will speak up only if the situation is right!

I have a belief that humans have the answers, they just need to be stated. When I walk into a meeting as a facilitator, I am not the one with the answers, the people in the room are. My job is to create structure so that the answers can be revealed. Sometimes the answer is already in their head waiting to be asked about, and sometimes it’s created by conversation.

If you also believe that people hold the answers, then we can move on to how to set up an environment that enables those answers to come out.

As I entered into this series, I thought that there were two kinds of people: talkative folks who weren’t shy about engaging in the meeting discussions.

And other folks who were naturally quiet and introverted.

After reading the responses on Facebook and LinkedIn, I realized that there is so much we as meeting facilitators have in our control.

We create the environment where people can bring their best selves - or can have their genius smothered.

This series will go over how to create an environment of engagement and contribution.

If you have some methods that you like to use to create engagement in a meeting, please share on LinkedIN or Facebook.