Balancing the Room, How Great Leaders Manage Loud and Quiet

Blog By David Davies, Head of Leadership Development & Mentoring, Lead Talent 

 

We live in a very “noisy” world, both personally and professionally.

That “noise” is coming from all sides. From the news, the markets, people’s opinion, our teams, our own internal thoughts. It can almost be overwhelming at times, as the noise competes for our attention and mental bandwidth.

As leaders, if we want to reduce the overwhelm, the noise, the risk of some people staying silent, it’s essential that we accept that there may be an issue and take proactive steps to build a dynamic that works.

We often hope and wish for silence. We believe this will give us the opportunity to collect our thoughts, regroup and move forward. However, prolonged periods of silence can be just as debilitating as the noise.

When we spend too much time with our own thoughts, the self-doubt can creep in, we start to over analyse and lose our ability to remain balanced and objective.

 

The noise vs. silence battle.

This noise vs. silence battle can also be commonplace in a team environment too. It can be one of the most challenging dynamics for leaders to manage especially with a group of diverse people.

There is the real challenge of “noisy” people who often push their own agenda, talk over people, try and demonstrate how they contributed to a task to project and often dominate the team dialogue.

But they aren’t the only challenging people in a team dynamic though. Interestingly those people who aren’t “noisy” enough, also have a role to play in the potential dysfunction of the team.

They can often remain too quiet and don’t contribute to discussions about innovation, problem solving or conflict resolution.

The driver of the silence could be the feeling of “What’s the point, no one ever listens anyway” of “I can never get a word in”.

However, being a silent witness is just as bad as the noisy neighbour.

 

So, as a Leader, why do we need to get the balance right and…how do we do it?

Teams thrive on diverse contributions that come from different team members. They facilitate growth, creativity, problem solving, and building a culture of high performance.

You can have the best ideas in the world, but if your team isn’t talking, those ideas won’t grow.

Open and inclusive conversation is how we make things happen together.

Conversations where people have equal opportunity and a safe space to share their views and ideas, whilst still being open to being challenged on them.

 

 

Balancing the Room.

A Leader can create healthier discussion, reduce the noise and silence, through purposeful and simple actions. These actions can include:

 

1: Coach for confidence in crucial conversations.

A Leader can work closely with those that are “noisy” or “silent” to develop skills like self awareness, confidence and better communication so they become more aware of their impact on others.

Coaching can then be taken into the wider room. Where a coach/ leader can facilitate more inclusive and healthy conversations, where the real issues actually get talked about.

 

2: Develop higher levels of EQ in the group.

By focussing on improving levels of Emotional Intelligence of team members, it can help to create more powerful and open discussions.

By completing a simple EQ questionnaire you can identify whether someone needs to work on their self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness (empathy) or social skill.

 

3: Use psychometric assessments.

Want to stop guessing what’s going on in your team? Use psychometric assessments. They give you a deeper, more objective view of each person’s strengths, blind spots and communication style, and what that mix creates as a team.

This is brilliant for fixing tension, improving collaboration, and unlocking a noticeable lift in energy, productivity and overall performance.

 

4: Build the right culture and “enforce” it.

A Leader should be focussed on making sure that the culture supports inclusivity. That people have the opportunity to contribute to the conversation and they are encouraged to have a voice.

The building of this culture needs to be a team effort and defining any cultural values must have input from the team.

The team as a whole needs to become the guardians of the culture and must uphold the agreed standards and values to ensure that healthy, progressive and impactful discussions are had.

 

5: Give feedback early.

Part of the Leader’s role is to provide people with feedback on the impact of their behaviour.

This feedback must be given in a timely and detailed fashion.

Feedback can then be processed, understood and then adjustments can be made.

Good feedback, delivered well and with empathy can help someone change course and adapt their approach for positive impact.

 

These actions (when executed well) can have a significant impact on any debates or discussions that are a natural part of team life.

As leaders, if we want to reduce the overwhelm, the noise, the risk of some people staying silent, it’s essential that we accept that there may be an issue and take proactive steps to build a dynamic that works.

 

Interested in a conversation about coaching? David is ready and waiting for your call:

David Davies, Head Of Talent Development

‭07734 389434‬

david.davies@lead-talent.co.uk