When it comes to staff meetings, you might notice that certain people are consistently quieter than others and rarely speak up. Their silence can be misconstrued as a lack of interest.

So how can you as a leader create a situation to enhance the involvement of introverts in meetings? How can you encourage them to express their thoughts more often and more openly?

Here are 4 ways that will help get the most out of your introverts!

1. Allow pauses. Seems simple, yet often missed! What seems like a minute of silence to an extravert is a second of silence to an introvert. So next time you’ve asked a question to the group, pause to give them time to think before answering.

2. Provide an agenda in advance. This will set up your team to think about the topics and come in with their ideas instead of putting them on the spot, which introverts often dislike.

3. Write it down. At certain times, rather than asking for comments, give people a couple of minutes to write their answers down before speaking.

4. Stopwatch. Setting time limits is a good way to avoid one person hogging the mic and enhance involvement.