Myriam HadnesFounder and CEO, workshops.work · Behavioural Economist | workshops.work | Host of the Unprofessionalism & workshops work Podcasts

How to Deal with Dominant Participants? #shorts

28 Jun 2022 · 1 min

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In this concise facilitation guide, the speaker addresses the common challenge of dominant participants who monopolize discussion in meetings. The core recommendation is to avoid giving them a platform by structuring the interaction so they cannot simply speak unilaterally. Practical steps include: (1) giving everyone time to think before speaking and asking them to post their ideas in the chat, ensuring thoughts are pre‑digested; (2) breaking the larger group into smaller breakout rooms so participants discuss collectively first; and (3) when reconvening, prompting each group to present a summary of their conversation rather than individual viewpoints. These tactics collectively limit the opportunity for any single person to dominate, fostering more balanced participation.

Chapters

How can we deal with dominant participants? We all know them. They get their voice heard after every single question. They don't start talking and we don't know what to do because it feels uncomfortable interrupting. Well, my simple answer is, don't give them a stage. So before inviting anyone to speak, first give them time to think about it and then maybe ask them to put their ideas into the chat so everyone has digested the thought already twice. Before speaking up. The other option is to first send the groups into smaller breakouts so that they can discuss about their thoughts already, and then when they come back, don't ask them to share their own thoughts but to share a summary of the group conversation. Like this, you don't invite any dominant participant to just talk about their own ideas. I hope this helps.