When team members engage fully during team meetings, discussions are more robust, the full range of arguments and opinions find their way into the conversation, and decision quality goes up.
Whether team members speak up, contribute fully, and are willing to offer competing views depends largely on what the leader says and does.
Leaders shape the climate of the room by the practices they embody.
Leaders who enjoy a higher engagement from the team have learned to reward team members during the meeting for specific behaviors and contributions.
By publicly recognizing a set of actions when they occur, leaders set the stage for higher involvement, increased engagement, and more substantive contribution.
Of the many behaviors and actions leaders must learn to reward through recognition, six stand out for their ability to influence team member behavior.
As you read through the list, ask yourself how often you call out instances when they occur during meetings.
Good Questions: When leaders publicly tell a team member they have asked a good question, one that creates clarity or helps to register an important point, others take notice and want to ask a good question as well.
All meetings benefit from helpful questions and leader recognition when they are offered, which produces more of them.
Respectful Dissent: Teams don’t make the progress they should unless team members are willing to disagree and register their dissent.
Advocating for a competing view in the group setting is difficult for most team members. Leaders who thank those who disagree for their contribution to push the group forward receive more challenge in the future.
Changed Minds: It’s not easy for people to change their minds, especially in front of the group.
Calling out that you believe someone has changed their viewpoint, and that you respect that, encourages other team members to admit when they have been persuaded. This breaks open the discussion and makes everyone more comfortable in advocacy.
Specific Recommendations: On teams where discussions are more leader-driven, team members are often reluctant to offer proposals or make specific recommendations.
But this is usually exactly what the team needs to clarify what others think and believe. Leaders who acknowledge it when a team member offers specific suggestions and proposals see them proliferate.
Surfacing Risks and Tradeoffs: When team members raise the risks and tradeoffs before decisions or strategies are finalized, they help the team think through the consequences of their choices.
Praising those who make this contribution shows the team that there are many ways to add value to the discussion, including flagging what might go wrong.
Leaders who recognize team members for raising a concern encourage everyone to be more open and honest in their evaluations.
Evidence-Based Opinions: Good leaders hold evidence-based opinions higher than viewpoints without empirical support.
To encourage team members to show up with evidence-based opinions and to be prepared to support others’ views with hard data, leaders must distinguish the difference for the team and then express their value for evidence when it is offered.
What a leader rewards and recognizes during the meeting can have a tremendous influence on how people will contribute in the future.
Leaders who intentionally and openly praise team members for the six behaviors above encourage people to make a more significant contribution in meetings.
Remember this: What gets recognized by the leader gets amplified by the team.
