The Art of Speaking Up

Make Your Voice Heard

I was recently on a call where someone spoke up to challenge how we defined and used a single word in our burgeoning project.

One single word.

Initially, he was apologetic about bringing up such a trivial thing, but I reassured him that it was fine, because if he had the thought, then other people might too and not even be aware of it. It turned out to be a highly productive conversation, helping us collectively better understand the nuances of the project and speak about it more consistently.

And all it took was having doubt over a single word.

Have No Fear

I've always encouraged people in business meetings to speak their minds. I've found through private conversations with my co-workers and employees is that they sometimes feel intimidated or discouraged from speaking — and I completely understand why. I've had plenty of experiences in my career with being shut down because my boss didn't want to hear something new or didn't want to address a possible flaw in the project that had been so, allegedly, meticulously planned, organized, and was now underway.

I want to tell you that you should still speak up. As long as you're coming from a place of conviction and with the honest intention of adding to and enhancing the conversation, you can't go wrong, regardless of how mean-spirited your boss is, real or imagined — and think of it this way, if you don't speak out, you may never really know which is true.

Others Feel the Same Way

Keep in mind that someone has to speak up. If not you, then who? It's quite possible (and in my experience, probable) that more than one person has the same concern as you do. Think of how often you've heard someone talk about some topic that's been irritating you for a while. Maybe it was some superficial issue: "You know, red and green make this seem too much like Christmas, and our product is targeted towards a summer audience."

It doesn't even have to be that precise. Sometimes a gut feeling should be more than enough to start the conversation. The goal isn't to ramble, though; the goal is to prompt reality to react — to get other people thinking, then speaking, and next thing you know, you're collaborating.

The Heart of Collaboration is Conversation

I think that when we're sitting in a meeting room or on a conference call we forget that we're still human. Somewhere in the hiring process of the modern-day era (which, in my mind, started in the 1870s), many of us get stripped of our identity as individuals and we by into the thought that "they pay me, so I must act a certain way."

And while yes, it's true, that professional business culture does require a different attitude than being at home amongst friends and family, it should not be a culture that subconsciously reduces us to being automatons for the company. Businesses are human endeavors created by humans and run by humans.

And something that humans do very well, given the opportunity and support, is talk.

In business, the key to a successful enterprise isn't all of the technical and organizational details and documentation — it's the honest and forthright conversations we have between ourselves as employees, with our bosses, our vendors, and our clients. The other "stuff" is just there to keep us organized and on track (because, despite how well we talk, we are piss-poor at actually remembering fine-grained details and being consistent with execution).

Keeping on Point

As noted, there is a difference between work and home. We have to put on the mask of professionalism. We have to keep in mind a shared goal that reaches beyond what most of us experience in our everyday family lives. We have to coordinate with people who, for all intents and purposes, are strangers to us. What unites us isn't familial bonds, but a common goal abstracted away from our personal lives.

That's why, when you're about to speak up in a meeting, you need to recall that you're a professional, so act like it. Being professional doesn't mean being cold-hearted and analytic, but rather it means being focused on the task at hand.

When you speak up, it should towards the betterment of the project, the programs, and the portfolio of the organization, not towards the personal. I don't mean you can't experience personal growth, nor that it isn't a noble cause; rather I mean you shouldn't be deviating from the topic at hand. Don't break off to speak about the weather when the meeting is about the delivery schedule.

You can still be light-hearted, friendly, and humble. You can still be human — and in the business world, part of being human means being a professional.

Speak Up!

So if you're an introvert, speak up by speaking in the first place. If you're an extrovert, speak with the aim of guiding. Either way, speak professionally and with an honest intent.

Remember:

The goal is to prompt reality to react.