A recommended meeting practice is to have the most junior team members share their thoughts first, progressing up the hierarchy, so that everyone—especially those who might feel intimidated—has the opportunity to express their point of view before hearing from their more senior colleagues.
——
Few resources:
- “Why Jeff Bezos Always Speaks Last (and So Should You)” (Inc.), which explains how having juniors speak first prevents the filtering or suppression of junior viewpoints by senior voices
- “Getting Juniors to Speak Up” (Admired Leadership), describing how effective leaders ask less experienced or junior members to contribute first to counteract the tendency to remain silent
- “5 tips for running inclusive meetings” (Apolitical), which offers the reverse seniority speaking order as a strategy for inclusive participation
Recommended by whom? Amazon is not exactly a hotbed of psychological safety. In any event, this walk-up-the-ladder game still has the people at the top making the decisions. In the worst case, those people are giving lip service to collaboration and, after nodding along and pretending to listen, do whatever they want anyway. I'm advocating that we get rid of that power hierarchy entirely and actually collaborate, with everybody's voice holding equal weight.
I can't recommend Amy Edmondson's book "The Fearless Organization" too highly [https://amzn.to/480uhIS]. Carl Rogers coined the term, but Edmondson ran with it and made it accessible, providing plenty of practical advice. The way to "get juniors to speak up" is to value their opinions and eliminate power hierarchy, at least within the team. You also have to get rid of ego at the top (something Bezos can't even imagine). No walk-up-the-ladder game will do that.
A recommended meeting practice is to have the most junior team members share their thoughts first, progressing up the hierarchy, so that everyone—especially those who might feel intimidated—has the opportunity to express their point of view before hearing from their more senior colleagues.
——
Few resources:
- “Why Jeff Bezos Always Speaks Last (and So Should You)” (Inc.), which explains how having juniors speak first prevents the filtering or suppression of junior viewpoints by senior voices
- “Getting Juniors to Speak Up” (Admired Leadership), describing how effective leaders ask less experienced or junior members to contribute first to counteract the tendency to remain silent
- “5 tips for running inclusive meetings” (Apolitical), which offers the reverse seniority speaking order as a strategy for inclusive participation
Recommended by whom? Amazon is not exactly a hotbed of psychological safety. In any event, this walk-up-the-ladder game still has the people at the top making the decisions. In the worst case, those people are giving lip service to collaboration and, after nodding along and pretending to listen, do whatever they want anyway. I'm advocating that we get rid of that power hierarchy entirely and actually collaborate, with everybody's voice holding equal weight.
I can't recommend Amy Edmondson's book "The Fearless Organization" too highly [https://amzn.to/480uhIS]. Carl Rogers coined the term, but Edmondson ran with it and made it accessible, providing plenty of practical advice. The way to "get juniors to speak up" is to value their opinions and eliminate power hierarchy, at least within the team. You also have to get rid of ego at the top (something Bezos can't even imagine). No walk-up-the-ladder game will do that.