While it’s true people need to advocate for themselves in the workplace, the onus is not entirely on the individual. Managers and leaders should accept that some situations can be intimidating to their attendees for a variety of reasons. Maybe they are new to the team or their role, early in their tenure or experience, or feel like an outsider for some reason. To facilitate healthy and productive business communication, it’s important to establish a leader in all conversations: the person in the driver’s seat who will open the door for passengers, ensure everyone is safely buckled in and steer the car toward the final destination.

Build the Guardrails

Leaders cannot expect to have meaningful discussions if they don’t create a safe place for them to happen. The leader’s job is to ensure the proper guardrails are in place to guide the conversation back onto the road or stop the car in its track when veering toward a full-on collision.

These guardrails include the nuts and bolts of the conversation (time, place and topic), but they should also go beyond the literal agenda and establish boundaries that allow each participant to feel comfortable and respected. The leader provides clarity on the objective and anticipated outcomes of the conversation, clear guidelines on what topics are to be addressed, the purpose of engaging each participant and any other relevant considerations and boundaries.

The leader sets the tone for the entire meeting, encouraging collaboration and inviting feedback cross-functionally from the beginning. Furthermore, sharing what role you envision for each attendee is useful, so each person knows what’s expected of them before the conversation even begins. When discussions are led with purpose, everyone knows when and how much they should contribute, easing anxiety, confusion and miscommunication.

Steer the Conversation

Just as the leader establishes the guardrails before the conversation begins, they should also steer the car once it gets going — avoiding pot-holes and ensuring they’re heading in the right direction (or that any detour taken is purposeful). The conversation leader doesn’t necessarily need to be the highest-ranking person in the room. Instead, they should be the person who will be facilitating the actions and agreements resulting from the discussion. The discussion leader initiates feedback and moderates the discussion, stepping on or easing off the gas as necessary.

Furthermore, the leader is accountable for the conversation’s success in the moment and its aftermath — they provide the follow-up to ensure any actions discussed are not forgotten. Without a leader, no single individual is responsible for actions that emerge from the conversations, and follow-through will be much harder to achieve.

Don’t Be a Backseat Driver

You can probably remember when your parents taught you to drive, jumping every time you turned and commenting on every move you made: “Slow down! Speed up! Watch out for that car!” It was infuriating. You may even have taken the wrong turn simply because you were overwhelmed by their commentary.

The “backseat driver” is not the kind of person anyone wants in their car; more often than not, they create more chaos than they prevent. Both conversation leaders and participants need to avoid back-seat driving in meetings. It’s just as important to listen actively, allowing each participant to come to their own unique conclusions, as it is to steer the conversation in the right direction and voice your opinion.

Practicing active listening, understanding and empathy are crucial to effective conversations. The goal of listeners should be to understand the vision of the person speaking without imposing their own biases. Before jumping in with your opinion, get comfortable in the passenger’s seat, speaking simply to confirm or clarify what you have heard.

When leaders or participants backseat-drive in a conversation, they thwart the potential for new ideas to emerge that they hadn’t predicted and risk making others feel bulldozed and unheard. The leader should invite dialogue and come prepared with a set of questions to initiate input. But once the car is on the road, the leader should sit back, practice patience and wait until participants have voiced their thoughts before diving in (unless an intervention is necessary to retain boundaries or focus the conversation).

Map Out the Journey

Imagine what would’ve happened if the person afraid to speak up in a business conversation had a leader actively facilitating their participation. That person would have been invited to share their idea at the appropriate time, and the meeting may have ended twenty minutes earlier, solution in hand.

Proper communication is one of the most essential elements to the health of any business, but it’s often one of the most difficult to achieve. People cannot expect their conversations to go smoothly without intention, just like they cannot begin any road trip without the GPS loaded. Furthermore, a road trip includes more than just the beginning and endpoints. Who will curate the road trip playlist, and who will book the hotel at each stop? Who will pack snacks, and does anyone have any dietary restrictions that need to be accommodated? Most importantly, who will keep their eyes on the road, ensuring you have enough gas to get there?

Communication is a two-way street, and everyonehas a role to play in facilitating productive and healthy conversations in which each participant feels heard. Establish the driver, map out the journey, and then set off — there is so much each person has to learn from each other.