In most places, that phrase can feel like an oxymoron — or a hopeless dream.

The idea of calling a meeting to work through an issue is sound. And yet we rarely walk away feeling like much got done. Often it's because we try to do too much, with too many people in the room.

When a meeting is well conceived and well run, something shifts — there's forward movement, everyone feels heard, and the decisions made are genuinely owned by the team and carried into action.