Collaboration needs room for more than one person

A good discussion isn’t a contest to see who speaks the longest

In a team, one person may have lots of ideas while another needs more time to think. If a decision is made immediately after the first strongly voiced opinion, the team may miss important information. It helps to state the goal, break the topic into questions, and invite people to contribute without putting them on the spot.

Summarise what the team agrees on and where differences remain. Clarify who will decide, what criteria they’ll use, and by when. Not every decision needs full agreement, but participants should know how it was reached.