Meetings have little or no impact on anything that matters. Meetings drag on for too long. People are holding back their ideas. Participants are yelling at each other. Meetings are boring.
Meetings are our specialty.
There are several ways we can help. Having a neutral party lead the meeting minimizes the chances that you'll be accused of treating one side unfairly. You want to fully participate in the meeting and know that leading it will not allow you to do so. Turning over the meeting to another person allows you to be one of the participants. Time is short, and the stakes are high.