Hearing Crickets? Five Tips for Coaxing Feedback from a Silent Group

You’re leading a staff meeting or team huddle, and you ask your employees for their input and ideas. Seconds tick by, but all you hear is…crickets. No one is willing to speak up (or make eye contact, for that matter). As you wait for a response that isn’t coming, you feel increasingly uncomfortable and demoralized.

We’ve all been there, says workplace management expert Jo Anne Preston. And it’s not just you—hearing the sound of silence instead of enthusiastic interaction is uncomfortable for everyone.

“Besides enduring the awkwardness of not receiving an answer, you’re likely to feel discouraged that your passion seems to not be reciprocated—especially when you’ve put a lot of time and effort into your talking points or questions,” says Preston, author of Lead the Way in Five Minutes a Day: Sparking High Performance in Yourself and Your Team (Health Administration Press (ACHE Management), 2021, ISBN: 978-1-6405523-5-7, $17.95). “You may believe that your employees just don’t care enough to participate, but a complete lack of interest is rarely the reason behind a roomful of crickets.

“Don’t give up,” she adds. “Leadership is all about having skillful conversations.”

That’s right: Facilitating meaningful, two-way conversations with your team is a skill that can be learned and developed. And, says Preston, it’s one that many leaders are never actively taught.

“Forcing dialogue doesn’t end well, but you don’t have to accept silence,” she says. “Using some simple facilitation skills can change the group dynamics and even get people excited about sharing. Developing these skills is worth your time. How you break the ice, invite input, word your questions, and gather feedback all have an impact on people’s willingness to participate.”

Preston’s book provides plenty of actionable lessons about improving communication that busy leaders can put into practice right away. Here, she shares five facilitation techniques to help draw people out (and avoid those darn crickets):

First, clarify your question. Good communication starts with clarity. Preston advises asking yourself, What do I really want to know? If you want a simple answer, then ask a simple question that could be answered with “yes,” “no,” or even a nod—and don’t be surprised if no one elaborates. For instance, “Are you getting through your performance evaluations with staff?”

“Compare that question to this one: ‘What barriers are you running into in completing performance reviews with your staff by the due date?’” Preston says. “Note that this question is open-ended and requires a lengthier answer. It also specifically touches on the details you are concerned about, ensuring that answers are centered on your priorities. As a bonus, you’re reinforcing your expectations (that performance reviews be completed on time), as well as communicating to employees that you’re willing to address the challenges they are facing.”

Encourage partner discussions. In a large group, it’s easy to avoid participating. Someone else will answer—I don’t need to stick my neck out. However, when talking one-on-one with a partner, people are able to share their thoughts in a more direct—and less intimidating—manner.

“If you’re concerned your question might be met with crickets, ask people to talk about it with someone else,” Preston advises. “To mix up the discussion and encourage employees to make new connections, ask them to draw numbers from a bag, or put letters on each seat prior to the meeting. Then regroup and ask about the issues that came up in their partner discussions.”

Build in a purposeful pause. Giving the group a minute or two to consider your question can eliminate the awkward part of a silence and garner more thoughtful responses.

“Announcing, ‘I’ll give you all a minute to think,’ will help your audience use the time wisely instead of just sitting there waiting for someone else to speak,” explains Preston. “Meanwhile, you can take a drink of water, write down a note, and take a couple of breaths. When you reopen the discussion, chances are higher that someone will talk.”

Get writing. Providing an opportunity for your team to write down their thoughts has several benefits. It gives people time to consider their responses, is more “user-friendly” for people who are reluctant to speak in public, and will help your audience be more engaged in any discussion to come. Here are a few writing strategies you may want to use:

• Method 1: Use flip charts. While in mixed groups, ask staff to use a flip chart to brainstorm ideas or answer questions. If you want different people to speak up besides the usual suspects, assign a spokesperson for each group. You can use fun criteria, such as, “The spokesperson for each group will be the one who has the longest commute to work.”
• Method 2: Brainstorm with sticky notes. Pose your question or problem, and ask everyone to write down their ideas or solutions, one per note. After a few minutes, ask the participants to post all of their ideas on the wall. Then have small groups organize the notes into themes.

“This strategy allows everyone to participate and is a great way to visualize problems and solutions,” comments Preston. “As you begin to categorize sticky notes, you may find that a consensus emerges.”

• Method 3: Pass the paper. Ask each employee to write down a clear challenge or problem, then pass their papers to the right. The next person writes down any idea or solution that comes to mind. Repeat this process a few times so fresh eyes can provide new feedback and spark discussion.
• Method 4: Fuel for thought. This tactic might be the simplest of all. Bearing in mind that not everyone gets out of first gear by talking, pose your question and ask people to take a few minutes to write down their thoughts. They don’t have to show their responses to anyone, but you might be surprised by how many of your “quieter” employees will willingly participate in the discussion afterward.

Have a “go-around.” Follow up a question by going around the table and asking everyone to share one reaction, idea, or suggestion.

“Allow people to pass, but keep in mind that frequent passing signals an individual coaching opportunity with that employee,” Preston points out.

“All leaders crave peace and quiet once in a while—but the middle of a meeting is not that time,” concludes Preston. “If you aren’t getting the participation you want, it’s up to you to facilitate discussion. Considering what you already know about your team, choose a facilitation technique that you believe will encourage the most participation (and might even be fun!).

“Implementing these tactics might feel a bit awkward at first as you and your team get used to new methods of sharing ideas and addressing problems, but here’s the good news: Once the ice is broken, conversation will probably flow more freely in future meetings too,” she adds.

Jo Anne Preston is the workforce and organizational development senior manager at the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, where she brings over four decades of her healthcare leadership experience to designing and delivering leadership and employee education for rural healthcare throughout Wisconsin and the U.S. Her aim is to offer to leaders straightforward tools and to inspire the courage to use them. She has a master’s degree in educational psychology/community counseling from Eastern Illinois University, is the author of Lead the Way in Five Minutes a Day: Sparking High Performance in Yourself and Your Team.