Excellent leaders know the importance, power and leverage of receiving the best ideas from each and every member of their team. It is in the context of the interchange of ideas that often the best and most creative team solutions emerge. The methodology we follow at times, however, works against achieving this end. Think about your own process for assuring the highest level of participation from each member of your team.

In the typical team meeting, issues, challenges, and problems are discussed at various levels. Solutions and strategies are kicked around as potential answers to those perceived problems. Sometimes we explicitly call our process “brainstorming” but even when we don’t a similar process is often occurring. As you observe your team around the table, are there some members that tend to more actively participate in the meeting? Are they really offering superior solutions to those who remain quiet? Or, are you missing out on the wisdom of those who don’t enter into the fray? Do you want to determine a way to get input from this silent half of your team?

The typical team meeting consists of problems being dropped into the midst of the team for immediate consideration, discussion and solution. The key word here is immediate. Typically a few of the more outspoken team members, those who are adept at thinking on their feet, offer suggestions and thoughts, while many sit and do not participate. What’s going on inside these silent observers around the table? Many of us are tempted to think that their silence is representative of little inner activity, evidence that they don’t have much to offer that would help the team solve the current problem. This is a misconception rooted in our own egocentric bias as outspoken leaders.

Here’s what’s really going on behind the scenes. Those who are silent are thinking deeply about the topic at hand, so deeply in fact that they are hindered from offering solutions in the moment. Brain scans of more introverted team members show an abundance of blood flow and cognitive activity in the prefrontal cortex. They have too many thoughts (not a lack of interest) about the subject at hand. Often their thought process continues long after the meeting concludes and their best answers come to them hours or even days later. If you as a leader truly value the input of the whole team, it behooves you to create alternate paths to receive feedback from each member of your team. It is not a one-size-fits-all world.

Here are a few suggestions to aid you in obtaining valuable feedback from the quiet members of your team:

• Send out a list of the items for discussion several days ahead of the team meeting. This primes the pump of the quiet thinkers and gets their brains engaged earlier. They will then come to the meeting having had time prior to process the problems in their own way.
• Create a culture where input comes in many forms (written and oral). Gather great ideas from quiet team members ahead of the meeting in writing and make sure their ideas get inserted into the discussion. You may need to read aloud in the meeting great ideas that you have received in writing. Be sure to give credit where it is due.
• As the facilitator of the meeting, create space for your quiet thinkers. Be cognizant of the pace and the power in the meeting. Quiet thinkers are often less assertive and will benefit from your skillful facilitation that slows the pace, creates breaks in the high energy level and helps to power down the more outspoken team members.
• Create a team culture that values the healthy balance between thinking fast and thinking slow. Normalize both kinds of thought process and behavioral style among the team. Model valuing equally both kinds of input as the leader of your team.

These few alterations of your process for obtaining input can dramatically alter your level of entire team participation. Want input from everyone? Adjust the parameters and watch the levels of input increase. Once you’ve factored in the thinking of both halves of your team, you will be better positioned to make superior decisions that lead to greater results.