Speaking up in meetings can be intimidating, especially if you’re an introvert — but failing to make your voice heard at important moments could hurt your career.
That’s at least according to Juliette Han, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist and adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. As Han, a self-identified introvert, explains, your deference during meetings or conversations at work “could accidentally cause you to become invisible” and get you overlooked for a promotion, pay raise and other opportunities.
But you don’t need to be the loudest in the room to be valued and recognized for the work you do.
There’s a different “tried and true” trick to standing out at work without speaking up during meetings, says Han, who is also an academic advisor at Harvard medical school.
The trick? Send people a brief — but thoughtful — recap note of what was discussed in the meeting.
“It works every time,” she says. “I see a lot of high performers do it.”
To be clear: Han isn’t suggesting you volunteer to be the office secretary.
You don’t need to write a follow-up email after every meeting, and you don’t need to send it to everyone who attended — Han says to save this strategy for “really important” meetings that could have a direct impact on your career development.
This could include brainstorms, status-update meetings, problem-solving meetings or other important work conversations.
Your email should highlight 2-3 important takeaways and suggest action items to accomplish whatever goals were outlined during the meeting.
For example: If you met with your co-workers and boss to outline priorities for the upcoming month, and ran out of time to cover everything, you can offer to schedule a follow-up call in your recap email.
Or, if someone posed a potential solution to a business challenge during a meeting, and you would recommend a different approach, outline your thoughts in the follow-up email, says Han.
Before testing this trick out, it’s smart to gauge your manager and colleagues’ preferences for follow-up emails.
If you’re planning to send a recap email to your co-workers, for example, Han suggests approaching them first with the following script:
“I’m happy to take a first stab at synthesizing what we discussed and send recommended action items, but I’d love for you guys to follow along with anything I missed and add your perspective to this email draft/thread. Your perspective is just as important as mine.”
If you’re planning to start sending recap emails to your boss, you could say:
“I would like to make sure that when I’m in these meetings, I’m understanding what’s discussed in the same way as you are, as a learning point. Can I try sending brief recap emails after certain meetings?”
Han says most people will be open to someone showing initiative to move conversations and work forward after meetings when the next steps “aren’t always clear.”
Another reason this trick is so effective? It helps you demonstrate three in-demand soft skills bosses look for in their employees: adaptability, communication and, most importantly, leadership.
With these emails, “you’re showing that you can be the person that takes the lead on the narrative, that progresses workstreams and discussions, without forcing yourself to speak up in a setting where you might be uncomfortable doing so,” Han adds. “It takes a tremendous amount of leadership and moxie to do that.”
CNBC
