How do you reset your team’s meetings for impact and energy?
Meeting Series: Part 2
In Part 1, we looked at why meetings so often slow R&D down instead of speeding it up. The next step is engaging your team to notice what’s working, what isn’t, and then co-designing rhythms that match your real work and outcomes.
What We Often See
Across R&D, meeting patterns drift into place without much intention—and stay there long after they’ve stopped serving the team. Some of the most common:
Too many meetings, too little clarity. Meetings multiply without a clear purpose, leaving people drained and disengaged.
Only a few voices dominate. A handful of voices carry the discussion, while others check out.
Mismatch of cadence and content. Strategy gets buried in weekly tactical reviews, while decision-making happens too late with lack of context for those impacted.
Meeting fatigue. In hybrid or global settings, the load gets heavier, not lighter. Engagement drops while time in meetings grows.
It’s no wonder teams feel stuck. Meetings become a habit rather than a tool.
A Different Way: Noticing, Engaging, Defining Rhythms
Changing meetings starts with three deliberate steps:
Notice the patterns. Audit your current meetings: what’s the purpose, who attends, what’s decided, how often they run over or get canceled. Patterns of disengagement are signals it’s time for change.
Engage the team. Ask directly: which meetings add value, which waste time, what’s missing? Use simple surveys or retrospectives to make sure every voice is heard—including those in different time zones or new to the team.
Define new rhythms together. Co-design a set of intentional meeting types—like stand-ups for daily coordination, weekly action meetings, monthly retros, quarterly strategy. Align cadence to outcomes, not the calendar. Clarify roles (facilitator, decision maker, recorder) and expectations for each.
Check in and adjust. After a few cycles, pause and ask: Is this rhythm serving both the team and our outcomes? Gather feedback, surface what’s working and what’s not, and make tweaks. Treat rhythms as living systems that should evolve as the work and context evolve.
The current research shows that effective collaboration relies on balancing moments of connection with time for deep, focused work. That balance is only possible if teams intentionally design their rhythms.
The Impact
When teams take time to reset meeting rhythms, the benefits are clear:
Clarity and alignment on what gets decided when
Higher engagement because meetings are more purposeful
Time reclaimed for deep thinking and science
Faster decision-making with less rework and churn
Greater adaptability as rhythms are reviewed and adjusted over time
Harvard Business Review shows that redesigning rituals like meetings improves psychological safety, connection, and performance. In R&D, that can translate into sharper focus, stronger decisions, and faster progress toward patient outcomes.
What About You
Here are a few ways to get started:
Audit just one recurring meeting this week—agenda, outcomes, attendees, prep, impact.
Run a “meeting check-in” with your team: which one meeting should we eliminate, and which should we redesign?
Experiment with cadence—try shortening, combining, or skipping a meeting and see what changes.
Build in feedback: end meetings with “what worked / what didn’t.”
Small shifts compound. A deliberate reset of your team’s meeting rhythm can unlock focus, speed, and energy across your entire system.
We’d love to hear your reflections. And if you notice opportunities to improve the way your team works, let’s talk. Plumtree is here to help you and your team work at the speed of science.
