How can you ensure all participants contribute to client meetings?

In my experience, to encourage everyone to speak at meetings, get the highest level stakeholder to speak last. Only allow them speak when everyone in the room has said something. Having them go first will do two things - bias the other opinions in the room, and/or intimidate other speakers and restrict them from sharing their individual thoughts. To allow less outgoing colleagues speak, go round the room to ask for comments. Let everyone know that everyone will be required to say something. And instead of spotlighting people by having them raise their hand to speak up, go round clockwise, asking each person to share their comments. This way there’s less pressure off introverts who shy away from drawing attention to themselves. Good luck!

Meetings consume most of our working time. To make sure it is good use of everyone's time, every meeting needs to go through "5P" test: 1. Purpose - Clarity of agenda and outcomes 2. Participants - Clear roles, dont join if you dont have a role 3. Process - Who will run the meeting and how? 4. Preparation - No meeting without adequate preparation 5. Place - Readiness of location including hybrid setup This can save a lot of time and resources!

Having a meeting agenda is critical for setting the stage for discussion. Using time boxing methods helps to ensure that all meeting participants have an opportunity to contribute their update. For example, daily scrum calls employees a simplified process where each person provides 3 key details: 1) what was accomplished yesterday 2) what do you plan to do today and 3) are there any blockers preventing you from accomplishing your task. Finally, once the agenda is set and there is a consistent format and frequency of discussion, participants are more likely to contribute since they have an opportunity to be heard and not feel like they are wasting their time.

One thing i have found helpful is to set the tone of the meeting by having an agenda or theme for the meeting. The convener or decision maker can set the ball rolling by stating the objective of the meeting, next should be the client if present so they can clearly articulate their requirements or requests after which all participants can chip in one by one. There should be a scribe or secretary in the meeting who can note all the points made and thereafter send a mail with the key notes. The most senior person or convener can then wrap up the meeting.

Start by setting the tone from the outset. When scheduling the meeting, be clear about your expectations beforehand and encourage active participation from everyone by asking them what their expectations are. Only preparing and sharing agenda points wouldn't help to unlock the value

Setting expectations certainly helps on a group level, but are individuals clear on what's expected of them? Some workers want to just show up and get the job done, not necessarily explain themselves to clients – sometimes this is fine, but other times, it can risk client relationships because of lack of communication from your team member. When onboarding team members or having performance reviews, relay if your team member is expected to speak up and interact with clients. If they're having trouble with this aspect of the job, ask how you can further support them with any additional training or resources related to communication.

Ground rules may not be necessary if expectations are already clear. Send an agenda in advance that includes expectations for participation as one of the agenda items. For example: 'All team members should come prepared to provide updates and contribute thoughts.' If there are outside guests attending, take 30 seconds to welcome them and share that you have an open and participatory culture.

In my experience, clear and respectfully communicated rules are essential to creating a productive atmosphere. They help to give every team member a voice and encourage constructive dialog. Another aspect I would like to add is the importance of follow-up. Reflecting briefly after the meeting on which rules worked well and where adjustments need to be made can increase the effectiveness of teamwork in the long term.

Open-ended questions are valuable tools for gathering data and recording observations. However, the success of this endeavor hinges not only on the use of open-ended questions but also on few critical factors: - Training Data Collectors - Designing Outcome-Specific Questionnaires - Ensuring Clarity - Monitoring and Quality Control While open-ended questions are a powerful tool for data collection, their effectiveness is maximized when paired with well-trained data collectors and meticulously designed, outcome-specific questionnaires. These elements, combined with ethical and quality control considerations, contribute to the overall success of the research activity.

A lot of time, you'll find people who are a little silent on meetings but you that they have amazing ideas. As someone who is running the meeting or moderating it, you should try to open the conversation in a way that it can include all the people.

Asking open-ended questions can be very productive in client meetings to encourage participation. It draws out insights, opinions and ideas that you may not have gained with closed-ended questions, however when time is very limited. Open-ended questions can lead to lengthy discussions that take up too much time. If the meeting has a packed agenda, they may not be feasible. Also, some personalities (extremely quiet or shy participants) may feel uncomfortable responding to open-ended questions, especially personal ones, so know your audience.

Another method is to have everyone (anonymously) write down their ideas or thoughts and mix them in a tiny container then have each other read out to the group. Makes it fun, takes out the pressure from it. The ground rule to this is no idea is shut down. You simply create a yes and no pile based on everyone’s reaction. The ones who make it into the no pile must be explained why it does not work by the group. Meetings are usually uptight and filled with nerves. Breaking the ice with light activities helps.

** Use Polls and Surveys in a Meeting*** This is horrible advice. Research (like polling or surveying) should be done and shared with the participants in advance so they can digest and review the information. Look, if this is a meeting for a school project or a game show, you can waste people's time and survey the audience but in consulting, we work with busy executives. The meeting must have a singular purpose. You must get to the point. Deliver a call to action, then shut up, get out, and let people go back to making money. Meetings do not produce revenue. They should be kept to a minimum. If you want to be taken seriously as a consultant, you'll keep meetings to a minimum. Only meet when you have something essential to say.

Breaking into small groups during meetings can powerfully increase engagement and collaboration. In a large setting, quieter members may hesitate to contribute, and a few vocal individuals can dominate conversations. But in a smaller breakout group of 3-5 people, everyone has a chance to share ideas in a more intimate, creative environment. Group members tend to feel more comfortable unpacking challenging concepts together. Quieter voices can be heard, and new perspectives surface. By brainstorming solutions in these small cohorts, ideas often become more fully developed and articulated before being presented to the larger group. Not only does this boost participation, but it lifts the quality of insights and solutions generated.

In my consulting experience, I have found this missing. Even if the rest are done well (agenda sent, meeting held on time, minutes sent on time etc.), the followup is missing - people just come to the next meeting like robots - without reading the minutes of the last meeting and knowing whether there were any actions on them. I would recommend this improvement.

Some techniques could include 1. Pass the baton - the next person gets their chance to add 2. Sketch and tell: All might not be comfortable in verbal communication so they could sketch and tell 3. Time boxing responses and allowing online Converstaions / deep dive to happen 4. I also like the Amazon way of 1 page memo to give the background of the meeting and topics to be discussed.

In situations where respondents and administrators may have limited proficiency in language, ideas, or achieving desired research outcomes, the following points can be considered: 1. Simplified Language 2. Visual Aids 3. Training and Capacity Building 4. Pilot Testing 5. Building Trust 6. Effective Communication 7. Feedback Loops 8. Multilingual Support 9. Cultural Sensitivity In summary, building trust and effective communication are vital prerequisites for successful data collection, especially when dealing with individuals who may have language or comprehension challenges. Moreover, a combination of language simplification, capacity-building, and cultural sensitivity can significantly improve research outcomes in such situations."

Making the meeting not interactive; Is the leading cause for not getting attention from the audience and having the correct audience for the meeting. Introduce methods like asking specific questions to the individuals, picking their brains, respecting the responses, and acknowledging them. Tiny changes will lead to more fruitful results.

In business meetings, it's a common misconception that everyone must contribute. This isn't always true. Meetings serve various purposes, like sharing updates or informing a team about significant changes. In such cases, it's often more important for the team to listen and understand the information being presented, rather than for everyone to speak. Not every meeting needs input from all attendees. Sometimes, the key goal is to ensure everyone is on the same page, and that can be achieved without everyone contributing.

Great idea and perspective but it needs to be clear that although 'Candid Workplace and Involving Every Brain To The Game' should be the key Value in an organization; but in a client / stakeholder based meeting - all ideas should be recorded yet not everyone should present them. There is a fine line between the two and it helps clarity to the stakeholders.