Equal participants – better decisions

Your product manager walks into the meeting room and sighs. You both know that the operations rep is going to dominate the brainstorming session again. What do you do?

The operations rep talks nonstop and pulls up his chart. Your product manager has a flash of insight. He circles relevant figures on his own screen, knowing that the group will see it at the same time on theirs. Making notes on the chart, your product manager explains how the revised plan can provide a higher rate of return, and then asks the other team members for their opinions. You both leave the meeting room confident that everyone had a chance to contribute and that this input will lead to the highest possible rate of return.