Are you a value add or a value minus?

As the Dilbert strip above demonstrates you can chime in without much value. My goal as a manager is to contribute to each meeting I attend. That can mean asking questions that lead a team in a new direction, bringing forth a unique point-of-view or helping them combine information to create a new outcome. Sometimes you can rest on the years of experience you bring in the room; however, most of the time it means doing your homework and thinking about the content in advance. And, if you have no value to add, my best advice is to cancel the meeting or stay quiet and let the team work it through themselves. Just talking for the sake of it never pays off.