{"id":9129,"date":"2019-01-30T13:54:24","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T13:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud\/?p=9129"},"modified":"2024-11-24T13:56:33","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T13:56:33","slug":"5-best-practices-for-silent-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monday.com\/blog\/teamwork\/5-best-practices-for-silent-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"5 best practices for silent meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re tired of sitting in meetings that end up lasting hours and getting nowhere, it might be time to consider holding silent meetings.<\/p>\n

Silent meetings might seem…a little counter-intuitive. We get it.<\/p>\n

However, in this post, we\u2019re going walk you through what silent meetings are, how they work, and some of the benefits that come when you eliminate the noise of competing voices and instead opt for a more inclusive, low-pressure meeting framework.<\/p>\n

Try monday.com<\/a><\/p>\n

What are silent meetings?<\/h2>\n

First: What are silent meetings, anyway?<\/p>\n

Silent meetings are a non-traditional meeting format<\/a> wherein most of the time for the meeting is spent digesting information and thinking before any actual conversation begins. Think of it as a \u201ctable read\u201d of sorts.<\/p>\n

However, silent meetings can work in various forms. In fact, some teams do fully silent meetings where no one speaks out loud, but instead shares comments within a communication hub (like Slack) or a digital document (like a Google Doc.)<\/p>\n

The optimal setup for your silent meeting will depend on what challenges you\u2019re facing, what\u2019s most conducive and user-friendly for attendees, and how your team members work best<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who thinks silent meetings are a good idea?<\/h2>\n

The practice of holding silent meetings aren\u2019t just for the woo-woo crowd–they\u2019re actually used by some of the top companies and most powerful leadership teams.<\/p>\n

For example, Amazon\u2019s CEO Jeff Bezos<\/a> uses silent meetings for senior executive team meetings. During these gatherings, everyone reads a shared memo and makes notes for 30 minutes before any discussion begins. This approach works to save time by forcing attendees to read, reflect, and summarize their thoughts before diving in for a more productive, worthwhile conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like high school kids, executives will bluff their way through the meeting, as if they’ve read the memo,” says Bezos<\/a>. “Because we’re busy. And so, you’ve got to actually carve out the time for the memo to get read–and that’s what the first half hour of the meeting is for. And then everyone has actually read the memo, they’re not just pretending to have read the memo.”<\/p>\n

Square\u2019s VP Product Manager Alyssa Henry<\/a> also uses silent meetings–although hers are 100% chatter-free. Team members silently work within a shared Google Doc on their laptops, which allows for more voices to be heard as there\u2019s no competition for volume or posturing within a digital space.<\/p>\n

Benefits of silent meetings<\/h2>\n

The silent meeting approach has its perks and benefits, including:<\/p>\n

Creating an equal playing field. <\/strong>With silent meetings, everyone gets the chance to speak, whereas in traditional meetings, the loudest and most assertive group members can hijack the conversation. This format removes some of the intimidation factor and accommodates more introverted attendees who have a hard time sharing their insight in a group setting.<\/p>\n

Giving attendees a chance to digest information. <\/strong>When the group is allotted time to read and digest information during the meeting, it forces participants to think about the topic at hand in real time.<\/p>\n

Fostering more deliberate and thought-out feedback. <\/strong>Let\u2019s face it: Not everyone reads the pre-meeting info. However, silent meetings with time for information consumption helps to keep people from \u201cbluffing\u201d their way through the meeting, which can eliminate some of the off the cuff conversation that comes when people haven\u2019t taken the time to get up to speed on what\u2019s being discussed.<\/p>\n

Minimizing repetition.<\/strong> When everyone takes the time to get on the same page during the actual meeting, you\u2019ll spend less time repeating common knowledge information and can dive right into problem-solving mode.<\/p>\n

5 best practices for a successful silent meeting<\/h2>\n

In order to get the most out of your silent meeting, be sure to follow a few best practices.<\/p>\n

1. Explain how your silent meeting will work and choose a leader.<\/h3>\n

Be sure to document how the process will go: Will you read a document together before? Will the meeting be entirely silent with feedback shared in a group document? Spell this out for your team members so they know what to expect.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also want to define what\u2019s expected of attendees. How should people share their thoughts? What\u2019s productive (and what\u2019s not?) Ground rules will help attendees know how to make the meeting most effective.<\/p>\n

Finally, pick a facilitator who will lead the meeting.<\/a> A point person will help keep things on track, even if there\u2019s not an out loud conversation happening.<\/p>\n

Get started<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

2. Explain why you\u2019re trying silent meetings.<\/h3>\n

Share why you\u2019re trying the silent meeting format and talk about the benefits. Giving everyone context on why there\u2019s value in the approach will help increase buy-in.<\/p>\n

If you want to leverage some concrete examples and success stories, share the social proof that comes with major brands like Amazon and Square using this approach.<\/p>\n

3. Pick a silent meeting format that suits your team.<\/h3>\n

Be realistic about the format that will be most conducive for your team. Is it using a software tool like Skype or Google Docs so your remote team members can be included? Is it having everyone gather in-person? Ask for their feedback on what they think is best.<\/p>\n

From there, don\u2019t forget to iterate on the format to see what\u2019s most effective for your group. Test out different ways to conduct these meetings and see which is most effective.<\/p>\n

4. Make sure everyone is participating.<\/h3>\n

When feedback is shared within a tool during a silent meeting, you have documentation around who spoke up (and who sat on the sidelines.) Reach out to those who are quiet and see how the silent meeting format can be tweaked so they feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas.<\/p>\n

Participation is essential from everyone involved, so use the data you have to nudge quiet team members in the direction of sharing.<\/p>\n

5. Synthesize and share the silent meeting\u2019s takeaways.<\/h3>\n

Just as you would with a normal meeting, have the facilitator synthesize the meeting\u2019s key takeaways and results–and share that with the group. Doing so distills the meeting\u2019s outcomes and reminds everyone of what you accomplished and what\u2019s next to do.<\/p>\n

Give silent meetings a try<\/h2>\n

When you started reading this, you might\u2019ve thought: \u201cSilent meetings? Really? What\u2019s the point of that?\u201d However, hopefully now you\u2019ve changed that point of view and your mental wheels are turning about how this meeting approach might be good to experiment with.<\/p>\n

While this format won\u2019t work for all teams, it\u2019s worth testing out for the perks it offers around information consumption, creating an equal playing field for idea-sharing, and producing more effective, productive brainstorming sessions.<\/p>\n

Get started<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re tired of sitting in meetings that end up lasting hours and getting nowhere, it might be time to consider holding silent meetings. Silent meetings might seem…a little counter-intuitive. We get it. However, in this post, we\u2019re going walk you through what silent meetings are, how they work, and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"What is a silent meeting? 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