Nobody answers "any questions?"

Every briefing I've ever sat in ends the same way. The leader finishes, looks around the room and says "Any questions?"

Silence. Two seconds. "Great, let's go."

And then everyone walks out with a slightly different idea of what was just agreed.

Silence after "any questions?" doesn't mean people understood. It means nobody wants to be the one who didn't. Especially in front of the boss, especially when you're the new person.

So I stopped asking it.

Now I ask "What's the first thing you'll do on this tomorrow morning?" or "Which part sounds the least realistic to you?"

Those are harder to dodge. You can't answer them with a nod. And in one minute the answers show you where your explanation had holes.

Sometimes the hole is big. Better to find it in the room than three weeks later.

Your team is not quiet because it's clear. Most of the time it's quiet because it's polite.