[Aromasin]

I do hardware application design-in at [insert NASDAQ silicon company] and we have these sort of reviews weekly where we go over customer tickets that we're struggling with, and people pitch in to give advice/contacts/morale support.

Some weeks it really drags. I think that's inevitable. The ones it doesn't though, for me at least, are when the engineering leads make an effort to give people launch pads to start a conversation on the issue. By that I mean, they ask questions - often intentionally stupid ones - to get people thinking. Doesn't have to be a Shakespearean monologue, just a couple of basic suggestions out loud, that spark thinking in the rest of the call. The answer is probably there, it just needs to be fished out of someone's head. If you ask "does anyone have any suggestions" then the call is silent, but give a wrong answer and all of a sudden everyone is keen to jump in and correct. Its a surprisingly effective method.