Dealing with Dominators
How do you get others involved when one person dominates the conversation and typically gets his way?
If this person generally has the best ideas, it may not be a big problem. Maybe people just agree with him, view him as a natural leader and defer to him because of the respect he has earned.
On the other hand, if others are afraid to voice their opinions; you have a problem. Your goal should be to make sure everyone is expressing his or her ideas and concerns. Here are three actions you might take as the team leader.
- Encourage further debate. When you think the team has shut down after the influential person has made her point, ask others to share their reactions. Strongly seek out more opinions.
- Quiet the influencer. Have a private conversation with the person. Share with her your concerns about the imbalanced decision making. Thank her for contributing so much. Ask her to join you in helping others voice their opinions by holding back her own.
- Talk to the quiet ones. Through a private conversation ask for their opinions. Find out if they had anything they wanted to say, but felt uncomfortable doing so. If it turns out that they were holding back, discuss what, if anything, might help them enter more fully into the group conversations. You might discover the quiet ones just did not see the need to speak.
