Here are my 6 dead-simple ways to amplify them.

Product teams need quiet people.

Why?

• Processing complex information requires space to think.
• Connecting patterns demands keen observation.
• Formulating a unique perspective takes time for rumination.

And your less vocal teammates are wired for this.

Quiet people can also make you think.

Their silence makes room for other voices, perspectives, and ideas to take shape.

But when they do speak, even their whisper can take the air out of the room.

What they say is unique, thoughtful, and well-formed.

But if you aren’t careful, you can silence these quiet voices. Loud voices will drown out their brilliance. And your team will be a pale shadow of its potential.

So, you need to seek to amplify the voice of your quiet team members.

I write about this because I have recently witnessed the brilliance of the quiet team member on one of my teams.

Here’s the thing: I didn’t realize we had a quiet voice. I was unaware until the silence broke. A quiet voice spoke up with a striking, brilliant solution to a perplexing problem. Then, I lamented how much wisdom we had wasted until that moment.

It was a great reminder of the power hidden within these less vocal team members.

So, I spent 48 hours studying and assessing how to harness the might of these silent powerhouses.

I’ve captured my findings and experiences here (I’m using these strategies now). You can steal them. In less than 4 minutes, you can learn about ways to help capture the power of your silent superheroes.

Here they are.

This year, I’ve committed my focus to a concept called Lean Leverage, as described in my inaugural 2024 post. Each article I craft this year, including this one (the 9th in the series), will focus on an aspect of Lean Leverage. Enjoy and stay tuned for many ways to do more with less.

6 ways to amplify your quiet ones.

Put yourself in the shoes of your quiet team members.

Group discussion is a stressful event for the introverted personality. Interestingly, it’s also stressful for the extroverted^1. Active, vibrant, vocal collaboration can sap all energy. A two-hour teaming session can wipe the quiet team member out for the rest of the day.

With this in mind, look to amplify their voice without depleting their charge.

OK. Enough of my yapping, Here are my 6 strategies for amplifying the voice of your quiet ones.

1: Just give them some space.

Don’t expect real-time group collaboration.

Those quieter team members need time to gather and process group input. Finding a way to interject in a mob of voices rapidly robs them of energy. Their stamina is better used to process and generate their striking perspectives.

Here are some ideas for how to give space (these actually are good for vocal team members too):

• Don’t force decisions on initial discussion.
• Bake in at least two sessions to collaborate on a topic, with time between to marinate.
• Sleep on big decisions and allow for overnight insights.
• Deliberately pause for individual thinking time during collaboration sessions.
• Break out into smaller, more intimate group discussions.
• Use the 1-2-4-All liberating structure^2, using individual ideation time before sharing.

Great ideas require space to breathe for everyone, especially the quiet ones.

2: Find alternative modalities.

Don’t limit team interaction to vocal contribution.

Quiet voices sometimes need to stay quiet. Avoid defaulting to the spoken word as the only method of communication. Think creatively about getting their input.

Here are a few ways I’ve tried this successfully:

• Use collaborative tools (e.g., Mural, Miro, or Google Docs) to gather ideas or individual input.
• Allow video, voice, or screen recordings to get input from team members, avoiding stage fright.
• Utilize chat in online meetings.
• Don’t require video in online meetings (sometimes the stress of being on camera drains energy).
• Allow for anonymous suggestions.
• Provide mechanisms to contribute asynchronously.
• The buddy system: let their voice be heard through another team member.

Amplify the quieter voice without the real-time voice.

3: Let silence linger.

You don’t need to fill in every inch of silence.

Quiet moments in conversation are good. I know many of us, me included, become uncomfortable with pauses. They feel awkward when they are happening. But introspective team members need this time to process.

Try these simple (not always easy) techniques.

• Just wait; patience is crucial.
• Give the option to answer later.
• Don’t expect immediate responses.
• Build in wait time for decisions.
• Use the alternative modalities of response above.

What emerges from a seemingly awkward pause will often surprise you; welcome them.

4: Don’t force their voice.

You can’t facilitate the quiet voice to speak.

Many times, facilitators try to ensure everyone has a chance to speak. Quiet voices dread when their name gets called to contribute. As a facilitator, keep this front of mind.

Here are some things to avoid that apply too much social pressure:

• Round-robin input where everyone has to contribute verbally.
• Introductions, where the only option is to vocally introduce yourself to the group.
• Calling out silent team members and putting them on the spot to weigh in.
• Forcing anonymous contributors to reveal themselves (“Who wrote this? Could you speak to it?”).
• Mandating navigation in a mob session (use other roles, like Archiver or Researcher).

The silent voices will arrive when they are ready, no need to rush them.

5: Create team agreements that respect and allow quiet voices to be heard.

Don’t expect the quiet voices to be respected naturally.

Vocal, extroverted team members can easily forget about the silent team members. They get caught up in the thrill of team debate and collaboration. A great practice is to be explicit about team norms for amplifying quieter voices on the team.

Here are some solid working agreements I have seen for this:

• Respect different forms of communication.
• Contribute written ideas first, and then, discuss as a team.
• Provide methods for anonymous feedback.
• Sleep on important decisions.
• Everyone does not have to give an opinion.

Be deliberate about creating an inclusive space for all voices to emerge in their own way.

6: Retrospect your quiet voice amplification.

Don’t forget to sharpen the team capability to amplify the quiet voice.

If you don’t reflect on how well you include your quiet voices, don’t expect to get good at it. Every team’s context is different; every team member voice emerges in its own way. Teams have to practice and evolve to find their unique sweet spot.

Here are some ways I have done this:

• When in a collaboration session, pause frequently and reflect on inclusion.
• Periodically revisit team agreements, evolving them to further amplify the quiet voice.
• Allow for anonymous retrospection on how the team includes the quiet voice.
• Ask quiet team members 1-1 to reflect on their inclusion and suggest improvements.
• Meet with vocal team members 1-1 to brainstorm ways they can amplify the unheard voices.

With practice, your system will evolve to embrace and reveal the unheard voice.

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That’s it.

I hope this gives you ideas for amplifying your quiet voices. It’s easy to forget about them. If we do, we will not attain our peak potential as a team.

So, protect, treasure, and cultivate this asset to amplify your team’s power.

TL;DR

Amplify your quiet voices by:

1. Giving them space to process.
2. Finding alternative methods for them to participate.
3. Letting silence happen.
4. Not forcing them to contribute.
5. Forming team agreements that respect them.
6. Improving how the team engages them over time.

THANK YOU!

I provide this content free for your benefit, with no ads. All I ask in return is you help spread the word, so others can gain access to this advice. Help me make the world of product management and development better for everyone. The best way you can do this is to spread the word by rating, reviewing, and sharing this blog.

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Related Posts

You can dive deeper in the related articles below (no paywall).

https://medium.com/simply-agile/agile-leader-pattern-1-for-building-awesome-teams-encourage-different-perspectives-821dceb0c908?sk=db75457c5c3f2c712fb33b868aa0ac86

https://medium.com/swlh/agile-leaders-must-build-a-problem-solving-culture-5b0c1a629e8c?sk=470aa6f3b764acae013940d58192b9e5

https://medium.com/serious-scrum/should-scrum-teams-feel-guilty-for-taking-a-break-dfdd361455d3?sk=a7bd9250d07659431985f35c6154cead

References

1. Happy Now, Tired Later? Extroverted and Conscientious Behavior Are Related to Immediate Mood Gains but to Later Fatigue, Sointu Leikas & Ville-Juhani Ilmarinen, Journal of Personality, June 9, 2016
2. 1-2-4-All Liberating Structure, liberatingstructures.com