A colleague recently told me of a workplace meeting he was going to chair. The central topic was "Engagement Matters." The intent of the meeting was to establish and emphasize that it was important for staff members to act as proactive and engaged partners at meetings and also between meetings.

The subject of staff and volunteer engagement is central to my own consulting and training work. My curiosity was therefore triggered and I asked: "What exactly will you do at the meeting?" His reply was: "I did some research on employee engagement and I prepared a one hour presentation on the topic. This will be perfect, because we have exactly one hour available for the meeting."

From a time management perspective his approach made sense, but I couldn't help but wonder: Would a person truly learn to ride a bicycle by hearing a presentation about how to do it? Engagement is such a hands-on concept that it begs learning by doing, rather than just learning by listening to an expert. I suggested that my friend shorten his presentation to 10 minutes and then facilitate interactive activities for the group.

For example: Divide the 20 member group into 5 subgroups of 4 each, assign a facilitator and a recorder to each subgroup, and ask each of them to run a 10 minute mini-meeting on topics such as the following: "Suppose someone just joined your department. What would be the most important piece of advice you'd give him or her?" Or: "What are the greatest inefficiencies in your workplace, and what can be done to address them?"

Here are some additional tips for those who plan to increase group engagement at a meeting:

1. Engagement does not have to be in the form of an unconventional exercise. It can be as simple as keeping track of who has spoken at a meeting and who has not, and from time to time inviting silent members to contribute: "Thank you Jack and Ruth. How about those who have not spoken? How about you, Rebecca? What do you think the central issue is?" Or: "Tom, we need your voice. Do you have any input on this topic?" Or: "How about doing a 'round table' and giving each person one minute to comment? If you have nothing to add, just say PASS."

2. Engagement does not have to always involve talking. The objective of benefiting from the wisdom and knowledge of meeting participants can be achieved by alternative means. For example: Ask participants to take a pen and paper and jot down their thoughts on a given topic. Allocate up to three minutes, and then call on individuals (especially those who tend to remain silent unless prompted to speak) to share what they came up with.

3. Some facilitators make the mistake of structuring elaborate group activities just for the sake of team building, fun and "feeling good about other people." Many have referred to this as "a group hug." The reaction? Some participants (the "socialites") may find this sort of activity enjoyable, but others ("task-oriented") may become impatient and disengaged and may participate at a very superficial level, considering this to be an invasion of privacy and a waste of time. To avoid the latter reaction, design each activity to achieve a specific business purpose.

4. If you schedule small group activities, the size of subgroups should be small enough to allow everyone to participate and large enough to provide diversity of ideas and meaningful interactions within each group. The sessions should not be too short (which can create a sense of a rush) and should not be too long (which can lead to boredom and stagnation). Try to allocate at least 3 to 4 minutes per person. For example: a subgroup size of three people and a ten minute session will allow each person to speak for three to four minutes on average (provided no one dominates).

5. The topic and question you choose for engaging the group should be simple and clear. The assignment should be achievable within the allocated time. It may be best to give the assignment in writing, so the discussion can be kept on track, and so substantial progress can be made.

To sum up, engagement does indeed matter. With thoughtful methods of engaging all meeting attendees in discussions and consensus building, people learn to act as active partners in the process, instead of acting as passive, reluctant and acquiescent spectators. Broader engagement leads to richer discussions and is bound to enhance the quality of the decisions made by the group. Engagement also tends to increase the sense of "ownership" of the decisions made, and therefore boosts the support for their implementation.