People often don't speak up in meetings out of fear, a sense of futility, a lack of confidence, or because they just can't be bothered. But active participation and speaking up can significantly advance visibility and career prospects. So leaders and participants alike need to take responsibility for making meetings meaningful and encouraging open communication.

Betina Szkudlarek is a professor in International Management at the University of Sydney Business School. Betina has conducted extensive research on why people often do not voice their opinions and what can be done to encourage people to speak up. In this episode, she shares findings from her research, and offers practical steps for both leaders and participants to ensure everyone’s voice is heard…not just the loudest.

Three reasons to listen

• Understand the common reasons why people often refrain from speaking up in meetings and how it impacts team dynamics
• Learn strategies to encourage active participation and meaningful discussions in meetings
• Discover the importance of restructuring meeting formats to facilitate better engagement and contribution from all attendees

Episode highlights

• [00:08:13] What Betina found in her research
• [00:12:09] Common reasons people don't speak up
• [00:15:34] Administrative bloat
• [00:17:52] Disengagement in meetings
• [00:22:16] Making space for introverts
• [00:25:53] What participants can do in meetings
• [00:29:55] How family dynamics play out in meetings
• [00:32:04] Make just one contribution
• [00:33:14] Betina's media recommendation
• [00:34:54] Takeaways from Dan and Pia

Links

• Connect with Betina via LinkedIn
• Doing Silence: How Silence Is Produced in Meetings – Betina’s research
• The Stupidity Paradox: The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity at Work, by Mats Alvesson and Andre Spicer
• Harnessing the power of silence – Episode 85, with Bastian Overgaard
• Leave us a voice note