by Karen Yvonne

Created on: June 10, 2008

Some managers believe "quiet" is an employee attribute that needs to be managed. It
isn't.

We need to call the behavior we are looking for what it really is so it can be evaluated
and managed. What we really want from "quiet" employees is:

o Confirmation of understanding
o Contribution to group and organizational initiatives
o Ability to articulate issues and opportunities and willingness to do so

o Ability to "defend" a position or opinion

At the most basic level we are looking for verbal confirmation that an employee
understands what their work activities are and what results are expected. It is the
manager's job to ensure understanding, encourage questions and verify results.
Questions provide an opportunity for the manager to evaluate the depth of an
employee's knowledge and capabilities.

If an employee doesn't ask questions about something they don't understand, they
probably won't produce the desired results. The problem behavior the manager needs
to address in this case is the unwillingness to ask questions.

Employees need to be engaged in all aspects of their jobs, including contributing to
group initiatives. This is most noticeable during team meetings where it is not
uncommon for some employees to dominate the conversation while others appear to be
non participative.

Lack of participation in team meetings can be due to many things, including lack of
subject matter expertise, fear of offending someone, fear of "looking stupid" by raising
questions others understand, boredom or distraction. The manager may need to
encourage a less dominant attendee by soliciting their opinion in a positive way. The
manager should not say "Carol, you're being quiet, what do you think?"

Employees need to be capable of letting their managers know when they have, or see,
an issue that needs to be addressed or an opportunity that could be leveraged. Most
employees will not raise issues involving other employees, especially if they are new to
the company. Employees fear reprisal, being considered a whiner, being considered a
"brown-nose" and being banished by their peers. The manager needs to create the
environment that eliminates the reason for these kinds of sensitivities.

Finally, employees need to be able to defend their ideas. Most people who feel
passionately about something will be willing to defend it. Passion generally causes other
people to react one way or another. Harnessing that in a positive way is a key part of a
manager's job. Employees who don't demonstrate passion and commitment for
anything are probably poor in all areas of performance.

Managers have to deal with a variety of personalities. We don't need to dissect the
reasons for employees being boisterous or quiet. We need to ensure that we create a
work environment that encourages contribution, respects opinions, provides a platform
for questions and enables individuals to achieve their potential. New employees may
need time to get comfortable in their workplace. However, if in a reasonable time, they
are not willing or able to confirm understanding of their work, ask questions, raise issues
and defend their views, they probably need to move on, and you can use those criteria
to document the behavior leading to that conclusion.

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