During the IDS® portion of our Level 10 Meeting™, only one or two vocal leaders actually debate the issues, while the rest of the team sits in silence, nodding along and rating the meeting a ten just to get out early. How do we break this artificial harmony and force active facilitation that gets everyone engaged?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Artificial harmony is a major roadblock to running a healthy business. When team members sit in silence during IDS, you are not getting their best thinking, and you are likely making poor decisions. Rating a meeting a ten just to escape early is a failure of accountability.

To break this silence, the facilitator must change their facilitation style. Stop asking open-ended questions to the entire room, which allows quiet members to hide. Instead, call on specific people directly. Ask them what they think the root cause is or if they agree with the proposed solution.

Second, enforce the rule that a meeting rating of ten is rare. If the team solved three major issues but half the room did not speak, the rating cannot be a ten. Challenge the quiet members during the wrap-up. Ask them why they rated the meeting highly when they did not participate in the debate.

Third, the Integrator must have direct conversations outside the meeting with the silent leaders. Determine if they lack confidence, do not understand the issues, or are simply disengaged. Remind them that their seat on the Accountability Chart requires them to contribute to the leadership of the entire company, not just their own department. Force them to step up and participate.