How to handle the person who dominates every meeting

In most meetings of more than a few people, there will be at least one person who talks a lot. They always have something to add, even on topics outside their area, and they will take up as much of the discussion as you let them. What you do about it matters because a meeting run by one voice costs you more than time.

There are two reasons the talker has to be reined in, and the first is the quality of your decisions. Good decisions come from a discussion that actually adds useful information. When one person dominates, others tend to go along just to move things forward, and the decision gets made on far less than the best available thinking. The second is participation. People need to feel their input is valued, and that matters greatly in volunteer groups and on committees, where attending is a choice. Once a single person or a small group takes over, others stop coming, or they come and say nothing, and you lose the input of people who have something beneficial to contribute.

None of this is comfortable to manage, but it can be handled with respect. Here are three ways to do it.

Have an agenda

An agenda keeps a meeting on track. In addition to a list of topics, include a time frame beside each item. Assign someone to lead each topic so participation is built in from the start. Include a section for "new business" at the end of the meeting. If an individual starts to take over a topic, you can move the point to new business and return to it if there is time once everyone else has been heard. Sticking to the agenda makes it easier for everyone to feel their participation matters. You may also find that when you offer to carry a point to new business, and ask whether the person would research it and bring back a short report, they often decide it can wait.

Hold questions to the end

A good number of interruptions are questions that would have been answered anyway if the person speaking had been allowed to finish. Ask the group to hold questions and comments until the end, then leave room in the agenda to take them. The meeting usually moves faster with fewer interruptions, and the person presenting gets to lay out a complete thought without being pulled off course partway through.

Bring concerns forward

If someone is affecting your ability to take part, let the person running the meeting know the effect it is having. This does two things. The leader may have a way to solve the problem, which makes the meeting better for everyone. And, the leader now knows you likely have more to offer, which may mean a place on the next agenda or a conversation afterward. Either way, you have given yourself another chance to contribute.

A meeting that draws out the people with something to offer does more than produce a good decision. When people feel engaged, they become ambassadors for the organization, and that impacts morale, encourages the ideas they are willing to share, and sometimes elevates who wants to come and work with you. A well-run meeting reaches further than the room it happens in, which is reason enough to make sure no single person is allowed to run it.