Not only a good song by Depeche Mode but a good rule of thumb for conversations with your team.
If you need help, try counting to ten (silently)
Here are some scenarios that benefit from silence.
1. You are delivering feedback and trying to decipher why the person did the thing they did. Ask "How come?" then enjoy the silence.
2. You are trying to encourage team members to be take more intiative. They ask you for advice, you ask them "What do you think you should do?" Enjoy the silence.
3. You ask the team for ideas on how to implement a new process, the meeting goes quiet. You should too, enjoy the silence.
Need a sound track as a reminder? Click here.