If a team member leaves without notice, it slows down a project and puts stress on everyone else as you wait for a replacement. There's not much we can do with surprises, but why don’t we do a better job of planning for those we know are going to leave? Building in some overlap for knowledge transfer should be a given.

When many people are speaking in a meeting but it never translates into meaningful actions later on, it can leave us frustrated. But with some planning and collaboration, we can facilitate ways to make it easier for people to communicate better. Here are three ideas for a little less conversation, a little more action.

If you want feedback from your users, sometimes the best technique for gathering information is staying silent. After someone responds to your question, instead of continuing the conversation, just pause. This encourages the other person to keep talking, and that's when you may get the most valuable information.