Inclusive summarising

Inclusive summarising is the skill to have on hand. You create a togetherness in which everything is allowed exist. Even the unpopular opinion. Even the question. Even the minority. Even the least logical solution. Even the voices that are quickly shut out. By summarising, you provide all voices with a place in one whole, rather than perpetuating splits.

Perhaps even more important than summarising itself is that every voice is voiced by the leader. That way, everyone literally feels heard and, at the same time, everyone gets a chance to listen to the complete picture. You thereby bring instant peace, even if you do not know where you are going.

For this skill, you have to learn to let go of the assumption that your own opinion or goal is the most important one. Or that you have to force something. On the contrary, you do not have to work hard, to interpret, to find. You just need to be available to the facts. When you truly listen, you know what is being said and get connected to the group. It is also a good technique to check whether the group is still in the same boat: does the summary belong to everyone?

What summarising brings as well, is a kind of time intervention, within which everyone is given time to regulate. You as a leader as well. Everyone is paused for a moment to listen, to think. This is very helpful in changing a setting and bringing peace, both on the intrinsic layer and the energetic layer.

Inclusive summarising therefore provides a recovery point for the system. A shared starting point that gives ownership, individually but also as a group. In which you agree with each other about what to discuss further and what not. From cohesion, not from rejection or judgement.