Ways To Foster Creative Thinking In Group Discussions

Meetings can be draining for introverts, not because they lack ideas, but because traditional formats often favor the loudest voices in the room. Over the years, I’ve experimented with different meeting structures to create space where quiet contributors thrive, deep thinking is valued, and everyone feels heard. Here are five structures that work wonders for introverted team members: 📝 1. Silent Brainstorming Sessions Why it works: Instead of putting people on the spot, this structure allows team members to jot down their ideas first —on virtual whiteboards, shared docs, or sticky notes—before discussing them. This reduces pressure and encourages more thoughtful input. 🔄 2. Round-Robin Check-Ins Why it works: Instead of open-ended “Anyone have thoughts?” (which introverts often hesitate to jump into), each person gets a turn to share. This ensures that everyone’s perspective is heard , without the need to compete for airtime. ⏳ 3. Asynchronous Collaboration Before the Meeting Why it works: Sending agendas, discussion topics, or documents in advance gives introverts time to process, reflect, and contribute meaningfully. This leads to deeper insights rather than reactive responses. 🤝 4. Small Group Breakouts Before Large Discussions Why it works: Introverts often feel more comfortable speaking in smaller groups. Giving them time to discuss ideas in pairs or small groups first helps them gain confidence before transitioning into the larger conversation. 🌿 5. “Think Breaks” Built into Meetings Why it works: Instead of rapid-fire decision-making, inserting pauses for reflection (even just 2–3 minutes of quiet thinking) allows introverts to collect their thoughts before speaking , leading to stronger, more considered contributions. When meetings honor different communication styles, everyone wins. What meeting structures have helped you or your team thrive? Let’s exchange ideas! 👇🏽 #IntrovertedLeaders #QuietLeadershis #EffectiveMeetings #TeamSuccess #InclusiveLeadership

Ever been on a team that's too quiet? Not focused-quiet. But hesistant-to-speak-up quiet. I once worked with a leader whose motto was: "Silence is 100% agreement." We would chuckle politely. Our silence wasn't agreement. It was fear. Here's what I've learned after nearly two decades coaching people leaders. People don't need to find their voice. They need to feel safe using it. Here are 6 ways to create that safety, without forcing anyone to speak before they're ready: 1. Listen to learn ↳ Pause before responding: "Help me understand your thinking on…" ↳ Reflect back: "Here's what I heard, did I get that right?" ↳ Let people know when their input reshapes your thinking 2. Build confidence before the spotlight ↳ Pair teammates as "thinking partners" to test ideas before meetings ↳ Use 1:1s to help less vocal members frame input as exploratory questions ↳ Normalize iterations. "What if we considered…" often sparks breakthroughs. 3. Model transparent communication ↳ Share your thinking: "Here's my view and why I see it this way…" ↳ Be open about uncertainty. It gives others permission to speak ↳ It's okay to change your mind in public when presented with strong alternatives 4. Facilitate solution-building sessions ↳ Ask: "What would success look like for everyone involved?" ↳ Use "Yes, and…" to build momentum, not shut it down ↳ Try brainstorm rules: build on others' ideas before introducing new ones 5. Disagree without making it personal ↳ Start with: "We're debating the approach, not anyone's expertise" ↳ Use neutral framing: "There are different perspectives here" ↳ Keep feedback focused on outcomes and impact, not personality 6. Make space for the quiet thinkers ↳ End with: "Let's reflect for 24 hours before deciding" ↳ Send pre-reads with clear reflection prompts ↳ Start key conversations with a few minutes of silent thinking When you shift from demanding participation to designing for it, you're not just changing meetings. You're redefining how power flows through your organization. How do you create space for insight that isn't loud? ♻️ Feel free to share if you're working toward conversations where every voice has room. ➕ If you lead people, this space is for you. Follow me, Michelle Awuku-Tatum for insights on: ↳ Human-centered leadership, resilient teams, and intentional culture.

I used to struggle to share my ideas in meetings bustling with dominant voices. Not because I was scared, but because I never felt comfortable. Ouch. My seniors and peers often told me: "Speak up, have a presence, be bold!" Well-intentioned advice. But the brutal truth was that I didn’t feel psychologically safe. So when I took on the role of a people manager, I became the leader I needed. I took on a mission to create a safe space where every team member could share their brilliance, their quirks, their questions, their doubts and feel heard. Here are 3 rarely-used strategies I adopted: ✅ Silent brainstorming: I replaced vocal discussions with written ideas; preventing the loudest voice from dominating. We'd share our thoughts by ideating in silence and voting together.🚀 The best part? No one knew whose idea was winning, leveling the playing field for diverse perspectives. ✅One-pagers for every meeting: People process information differently. To include everyone, I ensured every meeting had a one-pager for context and a list of attendees. This way, team members could prepare in their own way, and those who felt their presence wasn't essential could choose to opt-out. ✅ Mini Workshops > Meetings: These mini workshops were designed to encourage deep thinking, collaborative brainstorming, and silent reflection. Everyone had their moment to shine. We always left with 1-3 actionable takeaways — co-created and ready for implementation. 🚀 In the end, it wasn't about changing my personality; it was about embracing it and finding innovative ways to lead effectively. 💪 By creating a safe space for my team, I not only unlocked their potential but also learned the true power of silence in a world that often favors the loudest voices. What do you think about this leadership style? #leadership #product #teammanagement #womenintech #productmanagement #productmanager

I love a good brainstorming session, especially when working on social media content. But, if it's going to be productive, you've got to set ground rules. Here are my favorites: First off, I set these ground rules like I'm explaining the rules of freeze tag or some game. It's more about boundaries and respect, and less about control. Second, I like to open with a fun ice breaker that gets people thinking. When doing a brainstorm around ambassador programs, we did trivia to guess celebrity endorsements. Activate their curiosity. Ok, now to the rules: 1. One idea at a time. Instead of every one yelling out all the ideas at once, we start with one and move on from there. If folks have multiple ideas, get them to write them down so they don't forget. 2. Encourage wild ideas. Some of my best brainstorms have started with ideas that were not grounded in reality, that could never happen, that were totally out of budget... but they led to realistic ideas that could work and were more innovative. 3. Build on the ideas of others. Don't hold your own ideas precious, but take what others have given and let your imagination run with it. Brainstorming is a team effort, no one is getting individual credit. Work off what you've got. 4. Defer judgment. Especially if you're the 'boss,' it's tempting to shoot things down that won't work or haven't worked in the past. You probably think you're speeding up the process. Instead, let the brainstorm happen organically and flow. 5. Stay on topic. Side conversations often happen in brainstorms. An idea pops up, it relates to another conversation, and all of a sudden you're on a side quest. If you stray, take note of it so you can address it outside the brainstorm. What helps you and your team brainstorm?

Leadership meetings designed to generate bold ideas and produce creative solutions MUST start a specific way, or they’re doomed from the beginning. Here’s an example: Last week, I facilitated a BREAK THE MOLD™ session with a client’s leadership team. After confirming goals with the CEO, I knew the intention of the session was to come up with a creative solution to enable the firm’s growth. Here’s the thing… The success of a session like this is often determined in the first 2 minutes. Many times, leaders will simply state the problem and open the floor to brainstorming. Here’s the issue with that approach: People are going to be blinded by all of their inherent biases, preconceived notions, and traditional ways of thinking. What you’ll get is a bunch of what I call “admiring the problem”. People dancing around the issue and assuming all the usual roadblocks are in the way. Instead, I opened this leadership session with the following: “I want everyone to assume we’re starting with a blank whiteboard. During this discussion, I don’t want you to think in terms of how we already do things. Instead, I want you to assume we’re building a firm from scratch. If we were building from scratch, how would you solve for this problem? Then we’ll address roadblocks later.” Now the tone has been set. We’ve framed the discussion in a way that gives everyone permission to think differently. Then, it’s your job, as a leader, to keep people out of the weeds and away from getting caught up on roadblocks. That’s another skillset and a post for another time… Try this next time and let me know how it goes. #innovation #leadership

Anyone can think better if you explore perspectives: That's what Edward de Bono figured out. At Microsoft, I needed a way to run better meetings, manage conflict, make better decisions, and basically think better in any situation. I turned to Six Thinking Hats, and I consumed Edward de Bono's shelf of books. Six Thinking Hats is a way to think better, together. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝘅 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 Each imaginary "hat" represents a perspective to explore and exploit: 1. 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝘁: Facts & Data (Focuses on objective information) 2. 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝘁: Emotions & Intuition (Focuses on feelings and gut reactions) 3. 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗛𝗮𝘁: Caution & Criticism (Focuses on potential risks and drawbacks) 4. 𝗬𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗛𝗮𝘁: Benefits & Optimism (Focuses on positive aspects and opportunities) 5. 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝘁: Creativity & New Ideas (Focuses on generating innovative solutions) 6. 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝘁: Control & Process (Focuses on managing the discussion and thinking process) You can use the Six Thinking Hats to think better by yourself. But the power comes when you think better together and swarm through a topic. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 By default, people tend to argue a point or favor a side or one perspective. With Six Thinking Hats, you do Parallel Thinking. With Parallel Thinking, everyone involved considers the situation or problem from the same perspective at the same time. I've used Six Thinking Hats to turn hostile meetings at Microsoft into true team collaboration. 𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗶𝘅 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜 / 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧 The beauty now is that you can use AI to help you with Six Thinking Hats. First practice so you know how to use the Six Hats, then apply to meetings. Here's how to prompt ChatGPT to help you with Six Thinking Hats: 1. 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲: • Introduce the Problem: Briefly explain the situation or problem you're facing. • Introduce Six Thinking Hats: Provide a high-level overview of the Six Thinking Hats method and its different perspectives (White, Red, Black, Yellow, Green, Blue). 2. 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗛𝗮𝘁: • 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝘁: Clearly state which thinking hat you want ChatGPT to use for its response. (e.g., "Using the White Hat, summarize the key facts and data relevant to this issue.") • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 (Optional): If necessary, offer additional details or questions specific to the chosen hat. (e.g., "For the Black Hat, consider the potential impact on the budget and timeline.") 3. 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝘂𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘀: • 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁: "Building on the Black Hat perspective, what are some mitigation strategies we could consider?" • 𝗥𝗼𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗛𝗮𝘁𝘀: Repeat the process for each hat, allowing ChatGPT to generate responses from different viewpoints. Think better my friend, with skill!