It’s inevitable that you will reach a point of entropy, where conflict will overtake the discussion. It is at this point that you should actually avoid going into “damage control” mode as much as possible. If you want to solve the conflict, backing down is only going to make things worse. Instead of trying to quell things, focus on trying to find common ground. Elevate yourself above the rest of the voices and be assertive. Then, once you have everyone’s attention, attempt to find where the dissent comes from. After that, discover every point where everyone is in agreement and pick it up from there. Once you’ve finished quelling the conflict, you should then try to work with the naysayers to see whether they are spotting a potential issue with what’s being discussed. Sometimes, they’ll spot something that could cause deep problems with the goals you’re trying to accomplish. Listening to negative input doesn’t hurt! If you want to take collaboration to the next level and you haven’t tried Zoom yet, be sure to sign up for a live demo with a Zoom product specialist today!