It might seem as though you are being mean when you dissuade conversation or try to bring people back to the focus and purpose of the meeting.
It’s even odd that this would be interpreted as mean.
A team that goes into a meeting, chat on a topic for an hour with no discernible outcome is the definition of a “meeting that could have been an email.”
Set the goal for the meeting, if you find your team drifting, bring them back to the reason they are there, why they are on the call, why you are all talking.
There are many times for discussion, water cooler, updates, etc.
But when you have a problem to solve, the focussed team is the one that gets it done.
