it's only a status meeting for management if management insists on being there.

kick them out.

I've been in teams with just developers, being siloed from non-programmers, with a technical manager. It still becomes a status meeting. We can tell them DSU aren't supposed to be status meeting, but it still devolves into one.

Part of the process is making sure the process works, i.e. achieves objectives. This sounds like such reviews were never done in those teams.