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Previously we discussed verbal actions that could improve our approachability, such as suggesting ideas and asking for opinions, and also those that could reduce our approachability, such as abruptly responding with "Why." To truly build a collaborative environment or culture, we need to couple these verbal actions with appropriate body language. Our gestures need to invite our team members to share their ideas and to fully elaborate on these thoughts.
Inviting
Some team members will naturally speak up, while others may be more reserved. To level the playing field, we need to ensure all individuals feel welcome to share their ideas. Beyond directly asking individuals "What do you think?", we can further invite them to speak by extending one hand out with the palm facing up [see image below].
We can perform this gesture whether we are sitting across the table or discussing over video chat. After extending our arm out and inviting a response, we can increase our perceived approachability even further by keeping an open posture. To have an open posture, we should sit or stand with our arms comfortably on our sides or on the table and directly, squarely face the speaker with our head, shoulders, and toes. We should avoid crossing our arms, which emits a defensive aura, signals that we do not view the speaker as equals, and that we may already disapprove of their idea. When a listener has their shoulders turned away, it demonstrates that they are not interested. So to resolve this issue, we should face the speaker directly or squarely to let them know that they have our full attention and we are interested in hearing their ideas, thereby further inviting them to speak.
Elaborating
Some individuals are long winded, whereas others are soft-spoken. To ensure we are getting enough context and information about the ideas of other individuals, we should encourage them to elaborate on their ideas until they have had a chance to share it. To begin, while they are speaking, we should give them our full attention. This means that we should not look at our phone, our watch, our messages, our emails, our book, etc. Additionally, as they are continuing to speak, we can gently nod to acknowledge we are hearing their ideas, even if we disagree with them.
We want to fully hear out their idea and avoid cutting them off too early. If we cut them off too early, it discourages them from sharing next time, because they will think that their manager does not want to listen to their ideas. In the event we disagree with their ideas and feel urged to cut them off, stay tuned for our next article, which will cover how to respond to "bad ideas" while retaining a collaborative environment.
Closing Remarks
An environment that encourages every team member to speak up and share ideas is critical to increasing the overall quality and quantity of output. Concurrently, such an environment will also increase team morale by making each team member feel as if they are contributing to the overall direction of the organization. The right body language that invites ideas and encourages further elaboration is a critical piece to building this culture.
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