“In teamwork, silence isn’t golden, it’s deadly.”

This Mark Sanborn quote takes on a whole new meaning in a WFH environment with virtual meetings. Online, using the mute function to eliminate background noise is useful to help the group hear each other clearly.  But it can also stifle connection and make debate clumsy.

What are the options for deliberately creating “noise” in team meetings to  generate a sense of team, maintain connection and optimise engagement in your virtual meetings.

 Try these:

1. Always begin meetings with an activity that enables everyone present to speak. Research I saw recently suggested that anyone in an online meeting or workshop who doesn’t speak in the first 10-15 minutes is unlikely to speak up at any point during the meeting. 
2. Be ready to call on team members by name, their thoughts in response to what others have shared. For example, “what resonates in that for you X?” and “what’s your first thought about that, X?” Asking by name helps minimise silence in any meeting, and helps keep things pacey and attendees alert and listening.  After all, they might be the next person called on to contribute. This strategy also helps ensure different perspectives are heard – exactly what one wants in a team.
3. Create a sense of alignment around expectations from attending the meeting, and accountability for contributing.   Ask team members to share (verbally or in chat box, slack or other means) what value they are looking to gain from being in the meeting and one thing they could do to create more value in the meeting.  Before wrapping the meeting formally, check in with “what insights from today will be translated into action for you?

 What ideas have you seen work with virtual meetings to avoid “silence” when teams connect online?