⚙️ The At Work Tune Up: The Meeting That Isn't Really a Meeting.

ISSUE #33 | APRIL 20, 2026

Welcome back to the At Work Tune Up, your insider’s playbook with practical, quick, tips on how to keep things happy and healthy at work.

We spend a lot of time at work. We should love what we do.

Let's get started.

This week's tip for your toolbox:

Not all meetings deserve 60 minutes. Most don't deserve 30.

Here's a question worth asking before your next meeting invite goes out:

What kind of meeting is this, actually?

Most teams don't have a meeting problem.

They have a meeting mix-up problem:

Status updates, urgent decisions, and big strategic debates all crammed into the same 60-minute block. It's exhausting. And nothing actually gets resolved.

We can fix this. Keep reading ⬇️

This week's tune-up:

Before you schedule your next meeting, decide what it actually is:

Daily check-in (5-10 min): Lightning-round logistics only. I like the format of:
- What are you working on today?
- What did you accomplish yesterday?
- Where are you stuck?
Weekly tactical (45-90 min): Near-term decisions and action items. The items on the agenda for this meeting should be concrete and move your work forward. Try to start by asking "What's most pressing this week?" and rank the agenda order live. If your team isn't at a place where you can do that yet, have one person order the agenda and get started.
Monthly strategic (2-4 hrs): One or two big issues that deserve real thinking and debate. Not the place for updates.
Quarterly off-site (1-2 days): Team health, culture, big-picture direction. If you've done an offsite with me, you already know a thing or two about these.

The magic move this week:

Look at your calendar and sort one upcoming meeting into its proper category
Does the time block match the meeting type? Does the invite list?
If not, fix one thing

Clarity about the type of meeting is a gift to everyone in the room, including you.

Try it. Let me know how it goes.

HOW THE EXPERTS SEE IT:

The Genius of Meetings

Take this all one step further and look at meetings through the lens of The Six Types of Working Genius.

This podcast from The Table Group takes us through different meeting types and which of the Geniuses is best suited to lead it.

Listen here, let me know what you think.

If this newsletter resonates with you, here are three more ways I can help:

Follow me on LinkedIn or Instagram for bite-sized tips throughout the week (free).
Work with me for 1:1 executive coaching or strategy consulting. Hit reply and I’ll send you a few questions to see if we’re a fit.
Book me as a retreat facilitator or speaker. I've never met a team that regretted investing in time away from the office to reset. I'd love to work with you. Please reply to this email or email me directly.

I’m a teacher at heart, and love helping people get better at what they do.

Miriam

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