Both within meetings and outside them, organizations need a steady stream of perceptive observations and creative thought from their workforce in order to adapt, innovate, and make progress. But while many organizational leaders think they offer an environment that's conducive to people freely sharing not just new ideas but also areas of deficiency, getting employees to take the initiative to speak up requires constant effort by management.
This article in Harvard Business Review demonstrates through research and examples that when such an environment is actively created, even employees with risk-averse personalities will put forth ideas about improving future business, and even about issues affecting employee productivity or safety.