Youre at a meeting with key staff. You want some new ideas to address the topic. Looking around at this group of creative, ambitious, bright people, you say, Lets get some fresh ideas on this. Whos got something?

Suddenly,you feel like the high-school teacher who has asked a question about the homework no one did. People find their notepads fascinating, others fumble in their briefcases muttering things no one can hear, still others stare into space seeming lost in thought. No one is looking at you.

Whats going on?

There are many reasons for this unproductive response to your query. In my many years of working with groups,Ive found the reason most often is one of these:

1. People are afraid of looking like idiots in front of bosses and peers.

2. They dont entirely understand the question or the topic itself.

3. They worry their ideas are not fresh enough or new enough for you and offering them will subject them to criticism (and might even show up on their performance review).

4. Theyve seen others who gave ideas be attacked and embarrassed and dont want to join that elite club.

5. They didnt realize this was to be an interactive discussion and were thinking about other work and waiting for the meeting to end. Theyre now caught unprepared.

6. Caught off-guard, their minds are blank.

What can you do to change this situation?

If you could re-do the meeting from the start, you might send out an agenda and indicate on it or the cover note that youd like people to bring ideas with them on,for example,topic #2. Thus,youd give the group advance notice and they can consider the task ahead of time. Or at the start of the discussion, when youre explaining why this topic is important and how the company got to this point, you could warn the team that youll be asking for ideas after sharing information. Thus, theyll gear up their listening and be ready with some ideas when the time comes.

So,thats what youll do next time. But now, here you are, trying to make eye contact with your team and wondering what happened to all the bright-eyed thinkers.

Creativity requires two important things: a safe climate and good thinking. People may have insightful and innovative ideas but if the perceived risk of offering them is high, those ideas will never see the light of day. There is the rare chance that you are simply hiring the wrong people but thats another issue! So lets examine the first, far more common, situation.

Why might employees perceive offering ideas to be risky? Look around your company. Are people rewarded who try new things? Are mistakes severely punished? When people make suggestions that seem patently impossible, are they met with groans or rolling eyes? In meetings, like the one youre in, do ideas get ignored, met with silence, discounted? Do status and hierarchy games get played where the lower level people are not heard? Are ideas stolen and presented later as someone elses?

As the start of this meeting, you can manage the climate. Here are seven things you can do to encourage and elicit ideas:

1. Say something encouraging like, Lets get a range of ideas up here on the flipchart. All ideas are good ideas and Id like you all to hold off on negative comments or judgments. Later on, well select from the big list.

2. Give a brief summary of the topic (again, if necessary) not only to remind them of the situation but also to give them time to think.

3. Welcome each and every idea, even if it seems youve heard it many times before. Your behavior will be closely watched and how you treat ideas will invite more or shut them off.

4. Either you or someone else write up the ideas (on a flipchart if possible) in the words of the giver. This gives encouragement and assurance that their idea is valuable.

5. Notice if ideas are coming from only a few people. Some individuals find the hurly-burly of a fast-paced meeting to be uncomfortable. Consider having the group take a minute or two to write down some ideas. Then, first ask for people to talk who havent yet had a chance. The quieter, more introspective people will appreciate this open invitation.

6. Rather than evaluate each idea as it is offered, add it to the list for later selection. Youll have a wide mix of ideas and can then choose among them for intriguing ones that could benefit from further development.

7. Be patient. Its rare that brilliant ideas emerge right away. In fact, many breakthroughs come from the combination of smaller ideas. Remember that people often give safe ideas first and only offer the more creative ones when theyve gauged the climate to be open-minded.

So, thats what you can do this time. And use these ideas for next time, so you wont get the caught in the headlights look. Its really simple, if youre willing to make the effort. Your staff will thank you for it.

Peg Kelley, MBA, has been a professional meeting facilitator for 25 years & is co-author of the booklet 39 Secrets for Effective and Enjoyable Meetings available for $6.00 at her Facilitation Plus website at http://www.meetingswithmuscle.com. She publishes a free e-newsletter on Meeting Management Tips. Send your email address to her at Kelley@facplus.com if you want to receive it.

Thoughts On How To Create And Maintain A High Team Spirit
In previous articles I introduced some important criteria when choosing partners for your dream team. Here is a short recap: Choose people you trust Choose people you enjoy working with Choose people who challenge you Choose people that are h...

Studies on Corporate Team Building
Corporate team building is a useful tool to improve a company?s productivity and profit on a long term basis. Team building aims at the improvement of communication, participation and functioning of company members in company activities.Some useful t...

Team Building: How to Create a Dynamic and Successful Work Environment
Team building activities are essential if you want employees who know how to effectively and efficiently work together toward a common goal. At first, these activities may seem silly or you might wonder how they can contribute anything to your compan...

Discover How You Can Learn About Working Well As A Team
Working in a team can be one of the most interesting experiences. For individual or team, it can either be a pleasant or unpleasant experience. In anyway, working in a team can be a great learning experience for the individuals or team to develop and...

Discover How You Can Learn The Significance Of Focus For Your Team
There are many great lessons that one can learn from the importance of focus. One can learn that focus is important in many different aspects in life such as building a business, playing team and individual sports and building a strong relationship w...

Discover How Your Team Can Learn about Winning Mentality
As one learns about winning mentality, there can be many interesting lessons that one can learn from. Learning about winning mentality can provide excellent opportunity for individuals and team to develop in many different areas such as team buildi...

The Real Role Of A Team Leader
Team leaders play a very important role in the development and encouragement of a team. It is their job not only to ensure that the standards of their team are high and the tasks that have been assigned are being done, but also to ensure that the tea...

Ideas for Team Building - Building an Effective Team
Team building rarely happens by itself. You need to generate ideas for team building that focus on efforts to bring different personalities together, to complement and balance each other and work as a team. To begin with, there may be a complete lack...

Checklist for High Performing Teams
Why do some teams perform well while others struggle? How can you assess how effectively your team is working now, and identify methods for improvement?Research shows that 85% of the reasons that teams of people succeed or struggle has more to do wi...

12 Tips and Reminders for Team Members To Enjoy Their Team Experiences More
12 Tips and Reminders for Team Members To Enjoy Their Team Experiences More Warning: The ideas that follow work. Dont be fooled by their simplicity. For experienced team members and team leaders some of these tips may seem obvious. Sometimes howeve...