8 ways to transform passive into participative - Part 2

This is the second - and final - part of how to transform passive wallflower meeting attendees into active participants.

Did you miss the first one? Read it here.

Without further ado, let's crack on with the remaining tactics.

4 Ask open-ended but specific questions

Build opportunities for people to speak into the agenda. By asking specific and focused questions, you direct their attention and reduce the pressure on them to think of something off-the-cuff. For example, "How would you go about getting around the issue of x..." or "What do you see as the main obstacles to y in your region..."

5 Paired perfection

Ok, now you've asked a kick-ass focused question. Don't just stand in stunned silence and wait for people to pipe up in front of their peers or managers. Alleviate their stress and fear of being singled out for an answer.

How? Get them to pair up (or in 3's if a large group) so they can discuss the question. Give them time to form opinions, answers or multiple options which they'll then share with the broader group. If the meeting is being run virtually, ask them the question before the meeting or they can mute themselves and use the live chat feature in pairs.

This allows each attendee to participate, contribute ideas and learn from their peers. Now call on a representative from each group to verbalize one of their thoughts. Use a round robin format to share the load and continue until the time allocated for the agenda item is finished.

6 Don’t underestimate the power of an icebreaker

The right icebreaker can lighten the mood and set your meeting up for success. People who are at ease will be more comfortable speaking up. Things to consider when selecting an icebreaker include number of attendees, authority level, level of familiarity with each other and what you're trying to achieve. Don't know of any? Ask your colleagues!

7 Recognise and acknowledge

Has someone contributed an idea which was executed? Reward them for crying out loud. Positive reinforcement works – whether on pets or humans! By bestowing recognition, idea contributors will want to say even more, and others will notice and be more comfortable voicing their opinions too.

8 Segment into bite-size chunks

Have a laundry list of agenda items to go through? Don't drag on - assign ambitious times to each section and stick to it. The longer you stay with one idea, the more likely people will disengage. Doing this also helps prime your meeting for participation. Use the momentum (and discussion) from closing out the smaller topics to tackle the 'meatier' agenda items.

There you have it folks. What's worked for you? And what hasn't?

Sharing is caring. I learn from you more than you do from me. Comment below.

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