Using Silence in Meetings LO2764

Ernst W. Diehl (ewdiehl@mit.edu)
Tue, 12 Sep 95 11:40:56 0000

David Hurst (LO2737) asks:"BTW has anyone used extended periods of silence
as a way to open a meeting? What were the contexts and what were the
outcomes?"

I have used silence as a contribution DURING a meeting.

Context: The meeting's dialogue had changed into a heated discussion. I
stated that I needed some silence to think how to best make a
contribution. Since I had not yet used much "air-time" during the meeting,
I felt justified to ask for 30secs of silence as part of my "air-time".

Outcome: The silence was respected and brought the meeting back to a more
reflective mode. 

--
Ernst W. Diehl
MIT Center for Organizational Learning
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Email: ewdiehl@mit.edu
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