Your Largest Untapped Resource

Women in the Boardroom

 

In the spirit of International Women’s Day, we’d like to highlight an often overlooked dynamic taking place in meetings across corporate America.

 

It’s been widely acknowledged that there is a lack of female presence in many boardrooms. And even when there are women at the table, their voices may go unheard. Or worse their ideas are commandeered by a male colleague in the room who gets the credit and praise for having thought of them. There’s even a coined term for it — ‘hepeating’ — used to describe this phenomenon.

 

It’s a subtle dynamic that has long gone unaddressed. One that can discourage participation and stem the flow of valuable contributions from women. In an article from Business Insider, a neuroscientist, Tara Swart, is quoted as saying, “The boardroom’s largest untapped resource is the female brain.”

 

She cites that, as a result, characteristics critical to leadership such as creativity and intuition are often sorely missing from the boardroom equation. Women are also less inclined to make impulsive or hasty decisions to get to completion, opting instead to gather facts and weigh options. This can be critical to driving effective outcomes — and impacting business ROI.

 

So how can we ensure that all voices in a meeting are heard, valued, and accounted for?

 

We have a solution: Put it in writing!

 

GoWall’s digital note wall turns any meeting into an equal opportunity for all to contribute comments and ideas, simultaneously and in a completely transparent way.

 

Each note is identified by individual and everyone’s notes appear on the note wall for all to see, ‘like’ and even comment on. Who said what is crystal clear and invites participation regardless of personality type; introverts and those less likely to speak up now have a voice. One that can be accounted for, valued and acknowledged.