Here’s a flow to help me with my “helpful contribution” problem:Is the priority of (this part of) the meeting to discuss things exhaustively, or to cover the essentials?
- If the purpose of the meeting is exhaustive discussion and there’s still time and attention available – go ahead and share your point.
- If the purpose of the meeting is to cover the essentials, does the helpful contribution add something essential that hasn’t been raised? If so – go ahead and share your point.
- If the helpful point is not exactly essential, is it important and directly relevant to properly understanding something essential? If so…
- Ask how likely is it to generate secondary helpful contributions from other people. If it’s relatively contained – go ahead. If it’s likely to open a Pandora’s box of distractions and irrelevance – find a way to share it effectively at a different time.
I usually fall down on point four.
Would it help if your whole team shared an understanding of this principle?