People who are affected by a decision should be involved in making it. Meetings should start on time and end on time. Meetings should include a friendly social aspect, people should be relaxed and welcomed into the meeting whenever they arrive. The ideal way for a group to work is if everyone agrees. However, if you can't reach consensus after two or three meetings, you should be allowed to call a vote.
Different cultures have very different speaking styles.
Groups should try and take into account cultural expectations before setting the rules for their meetings. It's better to have a skilled, external facilitator for long, difficult and important meetings or to resolve conflicts. The group should allocate money to pay someone for this. If a meeting can be avoided, it should be. Whenever possible, the group should try and have two or three people work on a topic and present a proposal to the rest of the group.