Creating a Cadence Without Killing Your Calendar

Getting the Rhythm Right

The more complex the work, the more communication is needed—but design teams often struggle with meeting overload, bouncing between standups, stakeholder reviews, critiques, and weekly status calls with little breathing room in between.

Done well, meetings are essential. Done poorly, they’re just interruptions.

As a design leader, one of the most important things you can do is establish a meeting cadence that supports the work, protects focus time, and gives space for creativity.

This article breaks down the core meetings design teams typically need, what purpose they serve, and how to decide which ones are essential (and which may be better as async updates).

The Meetings That Design Teams Actually Need

Here’s a breakdown of meetings you’re likely to encounter on a functioning (and hopefully healthy) design team, and how to approach them:

Daily or Bi-Weekly Standups

✔ Purpose: Check in on work progress, blockers, and priorities.
✔ Tip: Keep them short—10–15 minutes max.
✔ Frequency: Daily for fast-paced projects, or 2–3x weekly for less intense cycles.

Weekly Status Meetings

✔ Purpose: Align with broader cross-functional teams on timelines, dependencies, and deliverables.
✔ Tip: Avoid using this meeting to problem-solve—focus on updates.
✔ Frequency: Weekly, or bi-weekly if work is stable and tracked elsewhere.

Design Critiques

✔ Purpose: Review and improve work in progress, share feedback, and support growth.
✔ Tip: Be intentional about what’s being reviewed and the level of feedback needed (early vs. late stage).
✔ Frequency: 1–2x per week, depending on team size and project volume.

Sprint Planning & Reviews

✔ Purpose: Plan what’s achievable for the next sprint and showcase completed work.
✔ Tip: Ensure designers are included as equals alongside product and engineering.
✔ Frequency: Bi-weekly (aligned with sprint cadence).

Stakeholder Reviews

✔ Purpose: Share key milestones, gather feedback, and align on direction.
✔ Tip: Prep materials ahead of time and keep the conversation focused on the big picture, not pixel tweaks.
✔ Frequency: Every 2–4 weeks or at major milestones.

Creative Inspiration or Team Share-Outs

✔ Purpose: Share new ideas, inspiration, side projects, or lessons learned.
✔ Tip: Keep these casual and opt-in—but they build culture and creative energy.
✔ Frequency: Monthly or quarterly.

1:1s with Direct Reports

✔ Purpose: Provide space for feedback, career conversations, and team health check-ins.
✔ Tip: Don’t cancel these—1:1s are where trust is built.
✔ Frequency: Weekly or bi-weekly, depending on need.

How to Decide What Meetings to Keep, Kill, or Rethink

If your calendar feels like a game of “survive the meeting marathon,” it’s time to audit what’s working and what’s not.

Use the table below to evaluate each recurring meeting on your calendar.

Meeting Question	Why It Matters	How to Take Action
Is this meeting tied to a specific outcome?	Meetings without purpose waste time and create fatigue.	Define the outcome clearly—or cancel it.
Can this be handled async?	Some updates don’t need a meeting at all.	Use Slack, Loom, or email for updates or feedback when live discussion isn’t essential.
Is the right group of people attending?	Too many or too few people make meetings ineffective.	Reassess attendees and cut or add based on relevance.
Does the meeting have clear ownership?	Unstructured meetings waste everyone’s time.	Assign a lead to plan the agenda and guide the conversation.
Are designers getting enough heads-down time?	Too many meetings hurt focus and creative flow.	Protect no-meeting blocks or designate deep work days weekly.

Final Thoughts: Meet With Purpose, Not Out of Habit

Meetings aren’t bad—bad meetings are bad.

If you want your design team to thrive, be intentional about when and why you gather. When meetings are designed well, they:

Keep projects on track
Strengthen team collaboration
Create space for feedback and growth
Build culture and trust

But if every hour is spoken for, your team won’t have the time or energy to create the work you hired them to do.

Design your meetings like you design your products: with clarity, intent, and the user in mind.

Design Team Meetings That Work