Team meetings can be the backbone of a thriving workplace, but striking the right balance is crucial. Too many meetings can lead to fatigue, while too few can cause misalignment.

The key is to set an effective meeting cadence that keeps employees engaged and productive. Let’s explore selecting a meeting cadence for your team, team meeting best practices, and how to use employee feedback to improve meeting effectiveness.

What is a team meeting cadence?

A meeting cadence refers to the frequency and rhythm of team meetings. It ensures discussions occur at predictable intervals, whether daily, weekly, monthly, or annually.

The right meeting cadence prevents silos, encourages collaboration, and keeps teams aligned. When employees know when to expect key discussions, they can prepare updates and contribute meaningfully, leading to higher employee engagement, improved job satisfaction, and better project outcomes.

However, finding the right balance requires careful planning. Teams need to determine the purpose of each meeting, the appropriate frequency, and the best methods for follow-up.

How often should you have team meetings?

Setting a meeting’s cadence depends on your team’s needs, goals, and your project’s type. Standard meeting cadences include:

Annual meetings

Annual meetings are essential for big-picture planning and company-wide discussions. These often include:

Strategic planning meetings to set long-term goals
360 performance review meetings to provide comprehensive employee feedback
Company-wide all-hands meetings to align employees on vision and progress

Focus on broad strategic initiatives, allowing leadership to communicate important changes, review financial performance, reinforce the company’s mission, and celebrate milestones.

Quarterly meetings

Quarterly meetings provide an opportunity to review progress and make necessary adjustments. Common types include:

Quarterly business reviews (QBRs) to assess company performance
Goal-setting meetings to realign objectives
30-day onboarding check-ins for new hires

Quarterly meetings help teams stay on track with larger objectives that leaders cannot address in weekly or monthly check-ins. They’re good forums for reviewing performance metrics, departmental updates, and making informed decisions about resource allocation.

These meetings also offer the chance to course-correct when necessary. If a project or initiative isn’t yielding expected results, quarterly meetings allow teams to pivot or optimize processes to achieve better outcomes.

Monthly meetings

Monthly meetings balance meaningful updates with strategic discussions. Examples include:

All-hands meetings to maintain transparency across the organization
Project check-ins to track deliverables and resolve roadblocks
One-on-one meetings between managers and employees for personalized feedback

These meetings allow teams to assess progress, discuss challenges, and refine workflows and project timelines.

Additionally, monthly meetings can help leaders assess employee sentiment and ensure that employees feel heard and valued. To encourage idea-sharing and engagement, integrate pulse surveys, open discussions, and brainstorming sessions into monthly meetings.

Weekly meetings

Weekly meetings support continuous progress and team alignment. They often include:

Team sync meetings to discuss priorities and blockers
Sprint planning meetings for Agile teams
Status updates to track short-term goals

Keep these meetings concise and structured, focusing on immediate action items and problem-solving. Include clear agendas, role assignments, and follow-up tasks to maximize each meeting's impact.

Daily meetings

For fast-moving teams, daily meetings help maintain momentum. These can include:

Daily stand-ups for quick updates in Agile teams
Morning check-ins to set daily priorities
End-of-day wrap-ups to summarize achievements

While daily meetings are a standard best practice for Agile teams, they can be effective in any environment where rapid decision-making and adaptability are essential.

Keep daily meetings short and to the point (15 minutes or less) to align teams without interrupting productivity, allowing them to focus on their core work.

How to set team meeting cadence

Finding the right frequency for team meetings requires a structured approach. Different teams need unique cadences: remote teams, for example, may benefit from regular check-ins, while in-office teams may prefer fewer, structured meetings.

Here’s how to select a team meeting cadence.

Consider the type of meeting

Before scheduling a meeting, determine whether it needs to be daily, weekly, or monthly based on the objectives. For example:

Strategic meetings can occur quarterly or annually. They usually involve senior leadership and key stakeholders who can contribute to shaping strategy but may not always be available.
Status updates should be weekly or biweekly. Use the meetings to inform team members about ongoing projects and initiatives, discuss progress, and address roadblocks.
Employee check-ins may work best monthly. These one-on-one meetings can improve communication between managers and team members, discuss employee development, and provide feedback.

Invite the right meeting participants

Meetings are only effective when the right stakeholders are present. Avoid overcrowding meetings with unnecessary attendees by:

Keeping discussions relevant to invitees: Focus on project stakeholders and experts who can provide valuable insights or data for clear, actionable decision-making.
Allowing optional attendance for non-critical members: Consider making attendance optional for contributors who aren’t directly involved but may still benefit from the discussion.
Using meeting notes to keep others informed: Share meeting notes with non-attendees to update them on key discussions, decisions made, and important action items.

Ask for employee feedback

Employee feedback is essential to keeping meetings valuable. You’ll need this feedback to understand:

Meeting relevance
Whether meetings are too frequent or too long
Suggestions for improvement

You can collect employee feedback on team meetings with:

Employee feedback surveys: Send employee feedback surveys and employee engagement surveys after meetings with large attendance (like monthly or quarterly meetings or meetings for larger teams).
Focus groups: These meetings can uncover trends and themes that might not emerge from individual feedback. Organize small group discussions to explore your team's collective meeting experiences in greater depth.

Frequently asked questions

How often should staff meetings be held?
Why do teams meet on a regular basis?
How many meetings are too many?
How to set up a meeting cadence?
To establish an effective meeting cadence:
1. Identify the goals of each meeting. Plan for the next meeting to maintain momentum and clarity among team members.
2. Choose the frequency based on team needs
3. Adjust over time based on feedback
How long should meetings be?
The length of the meeting depends on the topic and complexity. Having a skilled meeting leader can ensure that meetings are productive and focused. General guidelines include:
- Daily stand-ups: 15 minutes
- Weekly check-ins: 30 minutes
- Monthly meetings: 60 minutes
- Quarterly/Annual meetings: 90 minutes or longer

Are you having too many meetings? Find out with SurveyMonkey

Are your meetings productive or just a time drain? The best way to find out is with employee feedback. Use employee engagement surveys to assess meeting effectiveness and make data-driven improvements.

By fine-tuning your meeting cadence, you can create a work environment that is productive, engaging, and efficient.