It was his turn to speak, his head slightly bowed and looking at his notebook. It seems his page is full of words he wrote to himself. He is very loved in the team. He somehow manages to get along with everyone, to find a way to say the right thing in a non-threatening way. The team holds him as a professional who does his work quietly. His voice is hardly heard in the team space, but one-on-one most of them have a feeling that he is a listening ear for them. He takes a deep breath almost imperceptibly and his voice comes out almost monotonously. He chooses his words carefully almost as if he rehearsed it at home. Each sentence is built almost intellectually and he finishes his words as all present nod in agreement.

And how do you feel about this? I ask

He pauses. An almost invisible twitch passes through his body. He breathes deeply. The monotonous quality is lost as he begins to share. Silence is kept in the room. For a moment he stops

I echo his words and ask if this is what he meant?

He freezes for a moment, as if letting my words sink into him. “Not exactly,” he says and starts again. This time it seems his word choice is more pointed, less leaving room for interpretation. His voice rises by a few octaves and suddenly he stops as if scared of what just came out of him. “That’s it,” he says.

Each of us has that team member. The one who is present and not heard; who does his work quietly, his body movements are almost imperceptible, and it’s very unusual if he speaks in a team forum unless it’s his direct responsibility. Some would say he’s introverted or shy. Everyone agrees that much more is hidden than revealed.

That team member is the one who sees what you miss when you’re busy talking. He reads the nuances, the body language of everyone in the room and sometimes is aware of things that didn’t exist in your eyes. However, somehow in team dynamics we miss the power that exists. There is a bubbling spring of knowledge that probably will never come out unless you encourage it and don’t get scared of the gentle drip that comes out at first.

The tensions that exist in teams can be released if the voices in the team are balanced. Those quieter team members who were busy listening and not being heard hold in their hands most of the solutions. In the very presence of their ideas and desires within the team space a different world of knowledge opens up that didn’t exist in this public space.

To allow this knowledge to come out, a safe environment needs to be created. On the one hand, to give space to all voices. On the other hand, to be limited in time and quantity, so that the expectation for everyone to speak will be clear and defined and the topic of conversation will be clear and precise.

Sometimes as managers we get carried away with the dominant voices and want to let the team develop naturally. In a world where the qualities of the introverts among us are not possible in the natural space we miss half the story. Sometimes the “natural” way hampers the potential in the team. On the other hand, defined boundaries may create frustration for the talkers among us, but, on the other hand, security and legitimacy for the side that usually keeps to itself.