the subtle signs of people agreeing or disagreeing with what is being said. Positive gestures include: maintaining eye contact, a slight smile, nodding. Gestures of dissension include: raised eyebrows, rolling of eyes, a slight sneer, looking down, shifting in the seat, avoiding eye contact. When someone does make a comment or suggestion, do not rush to discount their opinion or defend your own. To shut down someone who speaks up will send the message that you are not sincere, and people will retreat back into non-participation. Instead, say something like, ‘Thanks for your idea, Holly, let me think about that.’ Learn to be comfortable with silence. It takes getting used to, but allowing silence to be in the room is a powerful presence that gives people a chance to digest what was said, and to consider whether they have a response or contribution, and how they may want to present it. If you try to encourage more openness, and at first others are unresponsive or hesitant to participate, consider asking someone you trust after the meeting if there is something that you might have missed or could have done differently to achieve the desired result". Interactional justice In a podcast entitled "Under New Management", Joel Brockner, a professor of business at Columbia University, talks about the importance of the "interpersonal component of procedural fairness called 'interactional justice.'" Interactional justice refers to "how the employee feels that the implementer did things." Some questions they might ask that “have a huge bearing on whether or not people think the procedure was fair” are: Did they express concern? Did they show signs of treating the person with dignity? ...respect? ...compassion? Did they provide an explanation? If employees can answer "yes" to these questions, then the implementer has done things fairly and it is likely that employee silence has either been reduced or avoided. Areas for further research Employee silence is still a fairly new topic of exploration. Organizations have come a long way in how they treat their employees. In the past, employees were handled as machines and less like people. As such, it is not unusual that “employee silence has emerged as a subject of research only recently”. Current theories on the subject are in disagreement regarding the role of “individual-level antecedents (job satisfaction) or group-level antecedents (group climate, presence of formal communication channels)” in employee silence. Further research regarding this area