by Thembe Khumalo
You’re busy. We get it. You don’t have time to listen to everyone, and frankly some contributions just don’t seem very bright, and you sometimes feel like you just wasted a lot of time and energy on nothing. Then there are the ones who have good ideas but need to be coaxed and cajoled into sharing them - makes you feel like a therapist or a journalist or both! What you really want is for every one on your team to speak up, speak swiftly, speak smartly, so you can make the right decisions promptly and move on to the next big thing. And then after that, you want to keep it moving.
We’ve probably all heard about the “diversity dividend”. We see how big companies make an effort to ensure there is diversity at the top, and we’ve read the reports on how this supposedly leads to better company performance all round. How many of us actually believe it though? And if we do, how many of us are making similar efforts at diversity and inclusion in our own smaller enterprises?
The thing is, it’s not just enough to have the people warming chairs and taking up desk space. For their presence to have value, you need to hear them, and to include their points of view in making decisions that affect your customers and therefore your business performance. That means everyone needs to be free to speak up. They should be assured that when they do have something to say it will be heard, validated and given due consideration.
At Brandbuilder, I am always amazed when team members report that they were afraid to say something to me. “What? Who? Me? But I’m so cool…!” is what goes through my head. As a leader I tend to think I’m doing OK. Things in our team are kept pretty informal, no one calls me Ms Thembe (in spite of my twice a year pleas) and our weekly team meetings almost always involve large quantities of food, drink and uproarious laughter. I mean, what’s not to like?
But this is alone is not enough. Leaders have to foster a culture of deliberately seeking out the views of those who are different from them. Here are some tips I’m going to try out soon:
1. Invite the devil to your meeting
By this I mean appoint someone to play the devil’s advocate. When ideas are fielded, this person should figure out as many reasons as possible that would make the idea not work and share these. This will prompt other members of the team to feel free to speak up if they disagree with the idea, and it will force those who defend it to think carefully about what to do in response to the objections raised.
2. Stay neutral
As a leader try not to take a position on the idea until the end of the meeting. The reason for this is that people tend to self censor - partly because they don’t want to be seen as “the problem child” and partly because they are afraid of rejection.
3. Clarify the benefits of disclosure
Your employees may not realize how important it is that they be heard. So spell it out for them. Help them understand that diverse views make for better decisions, which ultimately leads to more profits and success for everyone involved. Who wouldn’t want that?
4. Pareto yourself
You may know Pareto’s principle by its other name - the 80/20 rule and you can apply it to team meetings too. That means you listen for 80 percent of the time and only talk for 20%. This makes you more deliberate about listening (I mean really listening) to everyone who makes a contribution; not just those that agree with you.
These ideas are not rocket science and on the whole they don’t really hurt all that much. But they could pay enormous dividends for your and your team members. I’m certainly going to try them - I may need to order an extra latte to keep me quiet, but I reckon it will be worth every sip if it enables everyone else to speak up!
Thembe Khumalo is one of Zimbabwe’s leading voices when it comes to brand-building, business growth and personal development. A winner of multiple awards both at home and in the region, she is the founder and Managing Director of Brandbuilder, a high-performance brand strategy firm that helps entrepreneurial leaders and SMEs achieve visibility and growth through comprehensive brand strategy, creative execution and social media content strategies. Known for her clarity and courage, Thembe Khumalo’s leadership track record includes board positions in listed, unlisted and not-for-profit entities. With more than 20 years in the media and communication industry, she delivers a network of high-level relationships across many industries in several African countries. | thembekhumalo.com | www.brandtobuild.co | askus@brandtobuild.co
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