As a business leader, you should find a way to earn people’s respect. You will lead the team to success. It will only happen if they listen to what you say. It’s s problem when you can’t even make them listen to your thoughts during a meeting. You can’t move forward if your colleagues don’t treat you as a leader. Here are some tips to turn things around.
Don’t set yourself apart
Just because you’re leading the team doesn’t mean you’re better than everyone else. Don’t lock yourself in your room and be away from the people you work with. Interact with them regularly. Keep your door open if someone wants to go inside and talk to you. You earn respect not only because of your credentials or experience. You also get it because of the relationships forged in the office.
Don’t be too serious
Another reason why you can’t make people listen is they find you to be too serious or boring. Instead of listening to what you say, they would rather do something else. So, keep it cool without going beyond the line. You should be an interesting character if you want people to listen to you.
Prepare what to say
If you keep mumbling during the meeting or can’t say the right things, everyone will ignore you. So, before the meeting, prepare your talking points. It’s even better if you have a projector mounted on an appropriate projector ceiling mount to prepare the slides and make the presentation more attractive. Then, if anyone has a question, you’re confident of the response.
Make the meeting interactive
You can’t be the only person talking during the meeting, as you’re not the only person with great ideas. Your colleagues might also have something excellent to say. It should be an interactive process. An interactive meeting gives everyone the chance to speak and express their views. You don’t have to accept all of them, but you should at least let people talk. The meeting becomes more fun.
Don’t dismiss people’s ideas
Once you ignore people’s ideas and tell them they’re not worth listening to, they won’t participate anymore. Even if you have something important to say, they won’t care. They will dismiss your words because you dismissed them first. It’s also a sign of poor leadership. But, again, you can’t make everyone feel they have nothing valuable to say. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Start with an energiser
Don’t go straight to the serious part of the meeting. Energise your colleagues first. You have an hour or more to discuss your plan. Start with something fun to bring everyone to the fold. You can also ask for help from another employee to open the meeting before you start the discussion.
Keep doing what’s right until you earn everyone’s trust. Then, during the next meeting, you won’t face a problem anymore. Everyone will lend an ear, and the discussion will go smoothly. You can also maintain a respectful environment while talking about sensitive topics.