Tongue-Tied in Teams Thirty-one-year-old Robert Murphy has the best intentions to participate in team meetings, but when it's "game time," he chokes.137 An online marketing representative, Robert cannot be criticized for lack of preparation. After being invited to a business meeting with six of his co-workers and his supervisor, Robert began doing his research on the meeting's subject matter. He compiled notes and arranged them neatly. As soon as the meeting began, "I just sat there like a lump, fixated on the fact that I was quiet." The entire meeting passed without Robert contributing a word. Robert is certainly not the first person to fail to speak up during meetings, and he won't be the last. While some silent employees may not have any new ideas to contribute, the highly intelligent also freeze. One study found that if we believe our peers are smarter, we experience anxiety that temporarily blocks our ability to think effectively. In other words, worrying about what the group thinks of you makes you dumber. The study also found the effect was worse for women, perhaps because they can be more socially attuned to what others may think. In other cases, failing to speak up may be attributed to personality. While the extroverted tend to be assertive and assured in group settings, the more introverted prefer to collect their thoughts before speakingif they speak at all. But again, even those who are extroverted can remain quiet, especially when they feel they cannot contribute. You may be wondering whether it is important for everyone to speak up. Collaboration (the word comes from "labouring together" in Latin) is at the heart of organizational transformation, so yes, the more participation, the more likely the collaboration will result in higher trust, increased productivity, and enhanced creativity. Furthermore, collaboration works best when individuals know their ideas are taken seriously. The message from research is clear: Give free speech a try! Questions Recall a time when you failed to speak up during a group meeting. What were the reasons for your silence? Are they like or different from the reasons discussed here? Can you think of other strategies that can help the tongue-tied? Imagine that you are leading a team meeting and you notice that a couple of team members are not contributing. What specific steps might you take to try to increase their contributions? I work aa a chemist in India so can you provide me answer of these questions according to this because I have to not understand what to write so can you provide me answer of these three in five hundred words