Types of Meetings
Most meetings fall into six types by purpose: status updates, information sharing, decision making, problem solving, brainstorming, and team building. Knowing which type a meeting is tells you who to invite, how to run it, and what to write down. A status meeting should end with updated action items, a decision meeting with a recorded decision, and a brainstorm with a short list of ideas and someone to take them forward.
Real meetings often mix types. A weekly team meeting might start with status, make one decision and end with a short brainstorm. That’s fine, as long as each agenda item says which kind it is. Below are the six purposes, then 23 common meetings, at work and in formal organizations, with what each one is for and a template for each.
The six types of meetings by purpose
| Type | What it’s for | What it should end with | What to write down |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status update | Checking progress against a plan | A current status, owner and date for each open item | Open action items with any changes, blockers with an owner |
| Information sharing | Telling a group something they need to know | People understand the news and know where to ask questions | What was announced, questions asked and who will answer them |
| Decision making | Choosing between options | A clear decision, with any conditions | The decision, the options considered, who decided, and who acts on it |
| Problem solving | Finding the cause of a problem and a fix | An agreed next step to fix it, with an owner | The problem, the likely cause, the fix chosen and the action items |
| Brainstorming | Generating options before narrowing them | A short list of ideas and who takes them forward | The shortlist, not every idea, and the next step for each |
| Team building | Building trust and working relationships | People know each other better | Usually nothing, or only follow-ups people asked for |
The type changes how you run the meeting.
- Status meetings work best short and in a fixed order. Go through open action items one by one, and take anything that needs discussion offline. If your status meeting regularly runs long, it’s probably hiding decisions that need their own slot.
- Information sharing often doesn’t need a meeting at all. A written update does the same job unless people need to ask questions or the news is sensitive. When you do meet, collect questions ahead of time and save time for them.
- Decision meetings need the options and the facts sent in advance, and only the people who decide or have to carry out the decision. Say the decision out loud at the end in one sentence, so it can be written down exactly.
- Problem solving goes better when the group agrees what the problem is before discussing fixes. Separate “what happened” from “what we’ll change”.
- Brainstorming needs a clear question and a rule against judging ideas until the end. Then narrow down on purpose: vote, rank, or ask the owner to choose.
- Team building shouldn’t be squeezed into a meeting with a heavy agenda. A short check-in question at the start of a regular meeting does some of the same work.
Common meetings at work
These are the meetings most teams and companies run. Each links to a template with an agenda and notes layout.
| Meeting | Main type | Who | How often | Template |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team meeting | Status, with some decisions | The team and its lead | Weekly | Team meeting agenda and notes |
| Daily standup | Status | A small team working on the same goal | Daily, about 15 minutes | Daily standup |
| One-on-one | Mixed: status, problem solving, coaching | A manager and one person | Weekly or every two weeks | One-on-one |
| Skip level meeting | Information sharing, listening | An employee and their manager’s manager | A few times a year | Skip level |
| Staff meeting | Information sharing, status | A department or whole staff | Weekly or monthly | Staff meeting agenda |
| All hands | Information sharing | The whole company | Monthly or quarterly | All hands agenda |
| Project kickoff | Decision making, information sharing | Everyone who works on or approves a project | Once, at the start | Project kickoff |
| Project status meeting | Status, decision making | Project team and sponsor | Weekly or every two weeks | Project status |
| Planning meeting | Decision making | A team or leadership group | Quarterly, or each sprint | Planning meeting |
| Retrospective | Problem solving | The team that did the work | End of each sprint or project | Retrospective |
| Brainstorming session | Brainstorming | People with relevant ideas, plus whoever decides | As needed | Meeting agenda |
| Client meeting | Mixed | Your team and the client | As needed | Client meeting notes |
| Discovery call | Information gathering | A salesperson and a prospect | Once, early in a sale | Discovery call |
| Quarterly business review | Status, decision making | A vendor and a customer | Quarterly | QBR agenda |
| Safety meeting or toolbox talk | Information sharing | A crew before work starts | Daily or weekly | Toolbox talk |
Some teams follow a named method with its own meetings. Scrum has four meetings inside each sprint: sprint planning, the daily scrum, the sprint review and the sprint retrospective, covered in the Scrum meeting template along with backlog refinement. Companies that run on EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System, hold a weekly 90-minute Level 10 meeting for the leadership team.
Formal meetings in organizations
Boards, associations, clubs and churches hold meetings with rules about notice, quorum and voting, and they usually need formal minutes.
| Meeting | What it’s for | Template |
|---|---|---|
| Board meeting | Directors oversee the organization and vote on major decisions | Board meeting agenda, board minutes |
| Annual meeting | Members or shareholders elect directors and approve the year’s business | Annual meeting agenda |
| Committee meeting | A smaller group works on one area and reports back to the board | Committee minutes |
| HOA meeting | Homeowners or the association board handle budget, rules and repairs | HOA minutes |
| Nonprofit board meeting | The board of a charity or nonprofit oversees its work and money | Nonprofit board minutes |
| Church meeting | A council or congregation makes decisions about the church | Church minutes |
| PTA meeting | Parents and teachers plan events and spending | PTA agenda |
| Club meeting | Members plan activities and handle club business | Club meeting agenda |
Formal meetings are a mix of the six purposes too, but they add steps: calling the meeting to order, checking quorum, approving the last minutes, and taking motions and votes. The Robert’s Rules of Order cheat sheet covers the common motions, and the quorum and vote calculator checks whether a vote passed.
Formal and informal meetings
Another way to sort meetings is by how formal they are.
Formal meetings have a set agenda sent in advance, a chair, rules for how decisions are made, and minutes that are approved at the next meeting. Board meetings, annual meetings and most committee meetings are formal, often because bylaws or the law require it.
Informal meetings are looser: a quick team sync, a coffee chat, a planning session between two people. They still benefit from a goal and a short note of what was agreed, but nobody approves the record. An informal agenda can be three lines; the meeting agenda template has a simple version for that.
The difference shows most in the record. Formal minutes are an official record of decisions and votes; meeting notes and minutes explains how they differ from informal notes.
In-person, video and hybrid meetings
Any of these meetings can happen in a room, on video, or with some people in each. The format changes the etiquette more than the agenda. Video meetings need muting and clear turn-taking, and hybrid meetings need extra care so the people on the call aren’t left out. Meeting etiquette covers the habits for each.
How to choose the right type of meeting
Start with what the meeting needs to produce. Then check whether you need a meeting at all.
- If you only need to share information, write it down and send it. Meet only if people need to ask questions or the news is sensitive.
- If you need a status check, consider a written update in a shared document first. Meet when items are blocked or need a decision.
- If you need a decision, invite only the people who decide and the people who’ll carry it out. Send the options beforehand.
- If you need ideas, invite people with different views, and say who will choose among the ideas afterwards.
- If you’re mixing types, label each agenda item: “for information”, “for discussion” or “for decision”. It tells people what you need from them on each item.
The meeting cost calculator is a useful check when a recurring meeting has grown. If the yearly number is high and the meeting is mostly status, a written update and a shorter meeting every other week might do the same job.
FAQ
What are the four types of meetings?
Some lists use four types: status update, decision making, problem solving and information sharing. Others add brainstorming and team building to make six. The labels matter less than knowing what a particular meeting needs to produce, because that decides who you invite and what you write down.
What is the most common type of meeting?
At most workplaces, status meetings: the weekly team meeting, the daily standup and the one-on-one. They’re also the meetings most likely to drift into discussions that need their own slot, so it pays to keep them short and in a fixed order.
What is the difference between a formal and an informal meeting?
A formal meeting follows set rules: notice, an agenda, a chair, a quorum, motions and votes, and minutes approved at the next meeting. An informal meeting has none of those rules. It still helps to state the goal and note what was agreed, but nobody has to approve the record.
Which meetings need minutes?
Formal meetings of boards, committees, associations and members usually need minutes, and bylaws or the law often require them. Work meetings don’t need formal minutes, but any meeting that makes decisions or assigns tasks should end with a short written record. The meeting minutes template works for both.
Sources
- The Scrum Guide, Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. The Sprint is a container for the other four events, and the Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event.
- The Level 10 Meeting, EOS Worldwide. A weekly leadership team meeting with a fixed 90-minute agenda.
- Robert’s Rules of Order, Robert’s Rules Association. The official site for Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, the usual rulebook for formal meetings in the US.