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I've had to coach a couple people in situations similar to yours on this. Similar input to boltzmannbrain - Spend 5-10 minutes before important meetings revie
by mdorazio 7y ago
I've had to coach a couple people in situations similar to yours on this. Similar input to boltzmannbrain -
Spend 5-10 minutes before important meetings reviewing the content to be discussed and determining if there items that need to be discussed, resolved, or that you feel you have expertise on. Write down what you can add to these points or questions that you have. Before the end of the meeting, look at your list. Are there unresolved points on there still? If so, say something like, "before we end the meeting, I have a couple quick topics" then state them.
During the meeting, specifically listen for topics on which you have expertise and either 1) write down your input if you're too shy to speak during the discussion (or if the person running the meeting sucks and lets some people dominate the conversation/isn't inclusive) and share them via the method above, or 2) add your input during the team discussion.
If the meeting organizer asks for team input and you have something to add, just say it. You don't have to wait for someone to call you out by name. It's also OK to disagree as long as you do it tactfully.
In some cases, your team and/or manager will not be good about inclusion and you might need to talk to someone about this to create more opportunities for you to contribute during meetings. Running meetings effectively is a skill like anything else, and a lot of organizers aren't all that good at it. If you find you're never asked for your opinion or, more commonly, interrupted and/or ignored by other people in the meeting, talk to your manager or mentor about this and see if they can help modify team behavior to be more inclusive.