There is a saying that ‘good leaders always give credit to others when there is success and take blame when things go wrong’ — in other words, give credit where credit is due and take blame when there is a problem. In this case, the management team should be more vulnerable; be open and willing to take blame for poor communication within the team/company, not take credit for anything good, and give credit to individuals and the team for making changes that benefit the team, company, customers, other stakeholders, and maybe even the bottom line.

And lastly, and maybe most importantly, make sure your words match your actions – if you lose this integrity, shut-down in communication will inevitably repeat itself.

Caveat: I work in The Netherlands. Dutch culture is different from US culture, or should I say NY, TX or CA culture.

However, they may miss the elephant in the room – that leaders can be dismissive of such feedback, which is what kills the flow in the first place.

To break down this erected barrier (and make no mistake about it – it’s a strong barrier), the leader has to admit fault – “In the past, I have asked for input, and then didn’t listen effectively. I pledge to you that I am going to change, and I need your help to do it. Hold me accountable if I do anything other than take the input and write it down. Feel free to tell me if I don’t meet this commitment I’m making to you.”

Then ask the question and go quiet. Uncomfortably quiet. Have an easel with a pen in your hand. Write the problem on the top of the easel.

And then wait.

The suggestions will come.

Now the important part: All the leader does is write down what is said. Paraphrasing is okay, but it is critical to capture the statement. Then ask “Did I capture that correctly?” If they say no, ask for feedback and fix it. Then wait for more statements.

Don’t offer your opinions of “We tried that, it didn’t work” or anything similar, whether true or your perception. Allow the team to freely offer ideas, and write them all down. If you get more than a page, KEEP WRITING.

When everyone is done, now is the time to discuss those ideas. Let the TEAM analyze / vette / discuss the concepts.

All ideas are good, but let the TEAM run with this. Allow them to vote. Everyone gets 3 dots. You can put them on one or three solutions you think work best. All the dots are the same color.

Then come back and recap: Here are the 3 (or whatever number) solutions we are going to pursue. We’ll need people to look at these – would anyone like to volunteer to take on or join each of these teams?

Again, you wait. People will step up. It will help if you say “We’ll give each team a week to review the proposal and let us know why it is the best option, or after your analysis, why it isn’t the best option. This isn’t going to be piled on to your existing work – we’ll move deadlines so you can work on this with the right focus.” Then take those actions.

I’ve done this, and it is very effective. And the Leader speaks last, and ONLY in support of the great ideas presented.

So if you think you’re done, you are wrong. To repeat this, you’ll need to follow the same approach every time. If you slip once back to what caused their silence, you will have convinced them you have fallen back, and they’ll go back to the silence your management style engendered in the first place!

Good luck.