--- title: "Daily Buzz: Create a Voice-Rich Culture" id: "45612" type: "post" slug: "daily-buzz-create-a-voice-rich-culture" published_at: "2019-02-06T21:59:06+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T23:37:20+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2019/02/06/daily-buzz-create-a-voice-rich-culture/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2019/02/06/daily-buzz-create-a-voice-rich-culture.md" excerpt: "To improve workplace environments, leaders should promote a culture of speaking up. Also: ideas for more inclusive events." taxonomy_category: - "Meetings / Events" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Leadership" - "Meetings" - "team communication" - "Workplace" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "C-Level" - "Director" - "Executive Team" - "Manager" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Executive Leadership" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Daily Buzz: Create a Voice-Rich Culture If there’s a problem at work, you’d hope your team members would speak up. Yet [research shows (opens in a new tab)](https://www.recruiter.com/i/when-employees-are-afraid-to-speak-up-organizations-suffer/) only 1 percent of employees feel “extremely confident” airing their concerns, and another 33 percent say their organizations don’t support a work environment where speaking up is acceptable. Psychologists have named the behavior of speaking up at work “employee voice,” which tends to be upward, constructive communication in its intent and challenging in content. Khalil Smith and David Rock, executives at the NeuroLeadership Institute, and Chris Weller, an editor there, have studied employee voice—and leaders play a big role in determining whether a workplace cultivates or shies away from speaking up. “While our research team initially started studying voice as a way of addressing harassment and other high-stakes breaches of ethics, we discovered that speaking up doesn’t just discourage problematic behaviors; it encourages positive ones like creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving,” [they say in a post for Quartz At Work (opens in a new tab)](https://qz.com/work/1540631/how-to-be-the-kind-of-boss-that-people-speak-up-to/) . “That means when leaders create the conditions for voice, they can make smarter, more creative decisions and root out questionable behaviors before they fester into something larger.” To create a voice-rich culture, the group suggests starting meetings with an invitation for everyone to share their input. Leaders should also consider withholding their opinions until the end, which will allow team members to offer a wide array of ideas without feeling like their solutions are too much. “When leaders make an active effort to solicit others’ views, they hold the power to radically shift how their organization functions,” the team says. “Without false expertise plaguing meetings and silence reigning in moments of questionable behavior, teams will feel empowered to freely debate new ideas, approach colleagues with confidence, and develop greater individual senses of agency.” ### A New Kind of Meeting Experience https://twitter.com/meetingsnet/status/1092872648101687299 **Creating an inclusive event** is no easy feat. One idea: Offer attendees different sensory experiences. For example, a sensory dinner, held in an unlit space, forces guests to rely on and work together—without the bias of knowing what others look like. Gina Badenoch, the founder and CEO of Capaxia and Ojos que Sienten (Eyes that Feel), says [in an interview with Meetings Today (opens in a new tab)](https://www.meetingsnet.com/event-design-ideas/seeing-different-light-outsmarting-unconscious-bias-create-inclusive-events) that such experiences outsmart unconscious bias and allow people to connect on a deeper level. ### Other Links of Note **Trying to reach new members?** [The Hootsuite blog suggests the Facebook Lookalike Audiences tool (opens in a new tab)](https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-lookalike-audiences/) , which reaches people similar to current customers. **Every association** **approaches learning differently**, but it’s not technology that makes your organization innovative, [it’s what you do with it (opens in a new tab)](https://www.wbtsystems.com/learning-hub/blogs/learning-trends-ignite-spark) , says the WBT Systems blog. **Different membership levels** can improve your association’s bottom line. The Membership Guys discuss [whether it’s right for your organization (opens in a new tab)](https://www.themembershipguys.com/membership-levels/) in their latest podcast. (PeopleImages/iStock/Getty Images Plus) [Jeff Hsin](https://associationsnow.com/author/jeff-hsin/) [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/jeff-hsin/) Tags: [#Leadership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/leadership/) [#Meetings](https://associationsnow.com/tag/meetings/) [#team communication](https://associationsnow.com/tag/team-communication/) [#Workplace](https://associationsnow.com/tag/workplace/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [Video2026 Summit Awards DinnerOctober 2, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/02/2026-summit-awards-dinner/) - [TemplateMembers onlyStaff Phone A Thon ScriptApril 18, 2018](https://associationsnow.com/2018/04/18/staff-phone-a-thon-script/) - [PodcastAssociations Now Presents: Beyond the Contract: Building Stronger Destination PartnershipsSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/associations-now-presents-beyond-the-contract-building-stronger-destination-partnerships/) - [TemplateMembers onlyAAO Website Principles DocumentAugust 31, 2006](https://associationsnow.com/2006/08/31/aao-website-principles-document/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2019%2F02%2F06%2Fdaily-buzz-create-a-voice-rich-culture%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !