>I have found that by being the silent member of a meeting, my impact upon
>the participants is much more profound. The others know that I have
>listened well, and am only adding to the discussion because there is
>something worthwhile to say. I can only hope that this attitude carries
>over to the list work that we are carrying on.
We have a sort of 'ground rule' in our team that when the
reflective quiet ones speak then we stop and listen - they often
have something profound to say....
I have also seen some work around silence and when it is not
helpful (ie when people don't agree but have not said so) and a
framework to contribute whereby people explain whether what they
are saying is an 'idea' - offered in the early stages of thinking, a
'belief' - based on a set of assuptions about how things work, a
'recommendation' - to move forward balancing all the discussion so
far or an 'answer' - to a question posed by someone else and based
on experience/knowledge etc... Hlepful alternatives when
dysfunctional discussion is leading to unhelpful silence.
-- Julie Beedon VISTA Consulting - for a better future julie@vistabee.win-uk.net