How to set up recurring meetings

Table of Contents

• Are your regular meetings worth your time?
• What is a recurring meeting?
• Types of recurring meetings
• How do recurring meetings work?
• Common challenges for recurring meetings
• Tips to run productive recurring meetings
• The benefits of scheduling recurring meetings
• How to set up recurring meetings?
• Conclusion
• FAQ

Are your regular meetings worth your time? 

Every week, it’s the same story—your calendar looks like a battlefield of recurring meetings. The Monday check-in, the Wednesday sync-up, the Friday review... by the end of the week, you’re wondering if you’ve actually worked or just talked about work.

But here’s the thing. When they’re done right, regular meetings aren’t just another block on your schedule; they’re the rhythm that keeps a team in sync, decisions on track, and goals within reach. Let’s dive into the what, why, and how of making regular meetings productive, purposeful, and worth your calendar space.

What is a recurring meeting?

Recurring meetings are regular catch-ups that automatically appear on your calendar—daily, weekly, or monthly—without the need to schedule them each time.

In today’s remote and hybrid workspace, these meetings serve as consistent touchpoints that hold teams together. They add structure to busy schedules, create space for collaboration, and keep everyone aligned no matter where they’re working from.

For instance, your team might connect every Monday to plan the week ahead or meet on the first Friday of the month to review progress and celebrate wins.

The goal isn’t just to repeat—it’s to make every meeting count.

Types of recurring meetings

1. One-on-one meetings: 

One-on-one meetings between team members, offering a private space to discuss goals, progress, and constructive feedback.

2. Scrum meetings: 

Structured events within the Scrum framework that help teams plan, synchronize, inspect progress, and adapt. These include Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups (Daily Scrum), Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective—each designed to align on sprint goals, share updates, and clear blockers.

3. Team or all-hands meetings: 

For department-level or company-wide updates, brainstorming, and planning.

4. Training and development sessions: 

Regularly scheduled skill-building or knowledge-sharing meetings (such as workshops or certification courses) to encourage continuous learning and growth.

How do recurring meetings work?

Recurring meetings are scheduled using a combination of patterns and ranges. These two elements decide how often an event repeats and for how long it continues.

Recurrence patterns: The pattern defines the frequency or interval at which a meeting repeats.

Recurrence ranges: The range defines how long the meeting series continues—whether it ends after a certain date, a set number of occurrences, or continues indefinitely.

Common challenges for recurring meetings

Recurring meetings often lose their purpose or effectiveness over time. Here are some common pitfalls to watch out for:

• No clear purpose: Without a defined goal or agenda, meetings drift off-topic and drain valuable time.

• Poor time management: Delayed starts, extended sessions, or timezone clashes affect productivity—especially for global teams.

• Low engagement: Passive participants or tech glitches in virtual setups can derail the momentum.

• No follow-up: Without tracking action items, even the best discussions fail to produce results.

• Repetition fatigue: When every meeting feels the same, it becomes a chore instead of a collaboration space.

• Dominating voices: A few participants taking over the floor can silence diverse ideas and skew decisions.

Tips to run productive recurring meetings  

A well-designed recurring meeting can become your team’s most reliable productivity booster. Here’s how to turn every session into something people actually look forward to attending.

Before the meeting  

• Set a clear goal: Define the why behind the meeting. If there’s no clear outcome, it’s probably an email.

• Plan and share an agenda: Send the agenda and materials in advance so participants come prepared.

• Invite selectively: Only include those essential to the discussion. To keep others informed, a summary or recording can be shared later.

• Rethink frequency: Don’t meet out of habit—meet out of need. Adjust cadence, timing, and duration as priorities evolve.

• Establish proper meeting etiquette: Align expectations on participation, communication style, and professional behavior to ensure smooth collaboration.

During the meeting  

• Use reliable tools: Choose secure, seamless platforms that support video, screen sharing, chat, recording, and transcripts.

• Stay focused: Stick to the agenda. Park off-topic ideas for later to keep discussions tight and relevant.

• Start and end on time: Respect everyone’s schedules. Allocate time for each topic and hold to it.

• Encourage participation: Rotate facilitators, ask questions, and use polls or brainstorming tools to keep energy high.

• Take quick breaks: In long meetings, short pauses help participants reset and regain their energy to stay engaged.

• Capture notes and actions: Assign someone to record decisions, responsibilities, and deadlines, or use the built-in transcript feature.

After the meeting  

• Share key takeaways: Send concise minutes, action items, and next steps immediately after the session.

• Follow up: Track progress on tasks or follow-up emails before the next session to maintain accountability.

• Review and refresh: Regularly evaluate if the meeting’s structure, frequency, or format still works. Switch things up when needed.

The benefits of scheduling recurring meetings  

Recurring meetings do more than fill your calendar; they’re the framework that keeps teams aligned, connected, and moving toward shared goals. Here’s why they matter:

1. They save time and effort: Set it once and the meeting repeats automatically—no rescheduling, re-invites, or availability checks. Timely reminders keep everyone aligned for smooth, synchronous communication.

2. They build consistency and structure: Regular check-ins bring predictability, keeping communication steady and priorities in focus.

3. They improve collaboration and accountability: Frequent touchpoints encourage team members to communicate openly and take ownership of their responsibilities—strengthening teamwork and trust.

4. They enhance planning and productivity: With a clear schedule in place, teams can plan their workload around meeting times, come prepared, and use sessions more effectively.

5. They track progress toward long-term goals: Recurring meetings help teams stay aligned with broader objectives by reviewing milestones and taking timely corrective actions.

6. They introduce structure and reduce pressure: Instead of cramming everything into one long discussion, recurring meetings distribute topics evenly—making conversations more focused and manageable.

7. They foster stronger team connections: Regular interaction builds familiarity and unity, helping remote or hybrid teams feel connected and engaged.

How to set up recurring meetings?    

To run a seamless recurring meeting, you need a platform that offers flexibility, control, and ease of use. Zoho Workplace lets you schedule recurring meetings across three applications—Zoho Cliq, Zoho Meeting, and Zoho Calendar—depending on what fits your workflow best.

Each app comes with its own intuitive interface and customizable settings, ensuring that your meetings are organized and effortless to manage.

Let’s look at how to configure recurring meetings in each app.

In Zoho Cliq    

1. Go to workplace.zoho.com and open the Cliq interface.

2. Click Create Event under Calendar Events in the right pane, or navigate to Remote Work and click Schedule Meeting.

3. Enter the title, date, and time.

4. Select Repeat event and choose your desired pattern and range (daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly).

5. Define the end condition: never, a specific end date, or a total number of sessions.

6. Add location, speakers, co-hosts, and enable recording if required.

7. Enter the agenda, add attachments, and enable reminders if needed.

8. Click Create.

In Zoho Meeting    

1. Go to workplace.zoho.com and open the Meeting interface.

2. Navigate to Meetings in the left pane and click Schedule.

3. Enter the meeting details: title, type, description, hosts, participants, date, and time.

4. Under More Options, check Recurring Meeting.

5. Choose your recurrence type (daily, weekly, or monthly).

6. Define the end condition (specific end date or number of sessions).

7. Click Schedule.

In Zoho Calendar    

Zoho Calendar lets you schedule recurring meetings directly in Zoho Cliq, Zoho Meeting, or even integrate with third-party platforms like WebEx, Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams.

1. Go to workplace.zoho.com and open the Calendar interface.

2. Click New Event in the left pane.

3. Add the event title, color, attendees, and date/time.

4. Under Recurrence, choose a custom pattern and click Save.

5. In Add Conferencing, pick the app (Zoho Cliq, Zoho Meeting, or a third-party option). For offline meetings, add a location instead.

6. Choose the Calendar, and add URL, Reminders, Description, and Attachments if needed.

7. Click Save.

Conclusion

Recurring meetings aren’t just a setting you toggle on—they’re a commitment to continuous communication. When they’re designed thoughtfully and reviewed regularly, they become dependable touchpoints that keep everyone aligned.

Zoho Workplace makes this simple—whether you’re setting a weekly sync in Cliq, planning monthly reviews in Meeting, or coordinating everything through Calendar. With the right tools and the right intentions, recurring meetings can stay focused, flexible, and genuinely worth showing up for.

FAQ   

• Can I convert an existing meeting into a recurring one? 
  Absolutely. Any scheduled meeting can be updated to repeat at regular intervals to fit your workflow.

• Can I edit or update a recurring meeting? 
  Yes. You can modify the entire series or a single occurrence in Zoho Cliq, Zoho Meeting, or Zoho Calendar to adjust timing, agenda, or participants as needed.  

• What if a specific occurrence needs to be cancelled? 
  You can cancel just that individual meeting without affecting the series. Participants are notified instantly, avoiding confusion and clutter on their calendars.

• What happens to recordings and chat histories in recurring meetings? 
  All recordings (when enabled), chats, shared files, and transcripts from Zoho Meeting are securely stored per session so you can revisit discussions and track progress across the entire series.

• Can I add conferencing tools like Zoom or Teams to recurring events? 
  Yes. Zoho Calendar supports integrations with external conferencing platforms like WebEx, Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams—making recurring scheduling flexible no matter the tool.

• Who can manage or update recurring meetings in Zoho Workplace? 
  Hosts and permitted co-hosts can control the schedule, participants, agenda, and recurrence details. This ensures smooth management even when responsibilities shift.