If your calendar is littered with recurring meetings, you already know: they’re a blessing and a curse. Done right, they keep teams on the same page. Done wrong, they’re a weekly waste of time. This guide is for managers, team leads, and anyone trying to run better recurring meetings—without reinventing the wheel every single week.
If you want a way to keep meetings on track, organized, and (dare I say) useful, Fellow has some solid tools, especially around meeting templates. No, templates won’t magically fix a bad meeting culture. But they will save you time and help your meetings suck less.
Let’s get into how to actually use templates in Fellow for recurring meetings—without overcomplicating things.
Why bother with templates for recurring meetings?
Before we start clicking buttons, it’s worth asking: why templates? Here’s what they actually do for you:
- Save time: You don’t have to write a new agenda from scratch every week.
- Reduce chaos: Everyone knows what to expect, so meetings don’t go off the rails.
- Create habits: A consistent structure helps teams prep ahead and actually follow through.
- Catch what matters: No more forgetting important topics or action items.
But be honest with yourself: a template is only as good as your discipline to use it. If your team ignores the agenda, it doesn’t matter how pretty it looks.
Step 1: Figure out what should be in your template
Before opening Fellow, sketch out what you actually want from this meeting. Otherwise, you’ll just copy-paste a generic agenda and wonder why nothing changes.
Ask yourself: - What’s the real purpose of this meeting? (Status update? Decision making? Brainstorm?) - What info do you need every time? - What do people always forget to prep? - Where does the meeting usually go off track?
A basic recurring team meeting template might include: - Check-in / quick roundtable - Review action items from last time - Main discussion topics - Blockers or issues - Action items & next steps
Don’t overthink it. You can always tweak your template later.
Pro tip: Keep the template short. Long, bloated agendas just encourage people to tune out.
Step 2: Create your meeting template in Fellow
Now, open up Fellow and actually build your template.
How to create a template in Fellow
- Go to the "Templates" section.
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You’ll find this in the sidebar. Fellow has a bunch of built-in templates, but you can make your own from scratch.
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Click “Create New Template.”
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Name it something obvious, like “Weekly Team Meeting.”
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Add your agenda sections.
- Use headings, bullets, or tables—whatever fits your style.
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Example:
- Quick check-in (5 min)
- Review last week’s action items
- Discussion topics
- Roadblocks/issues
- Next steps & owners
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Add prompts or questions.
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If you always want people to answer “What’s your main priority this week?”—add it right in.
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Save the template.
- You can update it later (and you probably will).
What not to do
- Don’t overcomplicate it with nested sections, fancy formatting, or every possible topic. Keep it simple.
- Don’t try to make one template for every kind of meeting. One size fits none.
Step 3: Attach your template to a recurring meeting
This is where the magic happens—turning your template into a real, recurring meeting.
Linking a template to a recurring meeting
- Create (or find) your recurring meeting in Fellow.
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You can sync meetings from your Google or Outlook calendar, or create one directly in Fellow.
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Assign your template to the meeting.
- Open the meeting series.
- Click “Apply Template” (usually found near the top or in the three-dot menu).
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Choose your new template.
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Set it to always use this template.
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Fellow lets you set a default template for the series, so every new meeting note starts with your agenda.
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Invite your team.
- Make sure everyone who attends the meeting has access in Fellow.
Pro tip: If you change the template, it won’t retroactively update past meetings. Only future meetings use the updated template.
Step 4: Prep and run your meetings—don’t just “set and forget”
Templates are only helpful if people actually use them. Here’s how to avoid the common traps:
- Send out the agenda ahead of time. Fellow can do this automatically, but double-check it goes out (people ignore agendas they don’t see).
- Assign topics or sections. If someone’s responsible for an update, put their name next to it.
- Capture action items live. Don’t leave this for “later”—you’ll forget.
What to ignore
- Endless template tweaks. Good enough is good enough.
- Trying to pre-fill every agenda item. Leave space for what comes up each week.
- Making templates that are 10 pages long. No one reads them.
Step 5: Review and improve your template (but not every week)
After a few meetings, take stock:
- Are people actually following the agenda?
- Are sections being skipped every time? (Maybe they aren’t needed.)
- Are folks adding topics, or is it all blank space?
If something’s not working, tweak the template. But don’t fall into the trap of constant edits. Settle on a structure and let it run for a month before making big changes.
Pro tips for recurring meetings in Fellow
- Use Fellow’s integrations to sync with Slack, Google Calendar, or other tools. This saves you from double entry.
- Keep action items visible—Fellow can show you outstanding tasks at the start of each meeting.
- Rotate facilitation so one person doesn’t always run the show (which templates make easier).
- Don’t be afraid to cancel a recurring meeting if it’s become useless. Templates can’t fix a meeting that shouldn’t exist.
What works, what doesn’t, and what to skip
What works: - Simple, predictable agendas - Assigning owners for each section - Using templates as a starting point, not a script
What doesn’t: - Templates that are too rigid (kills discussion) - Agendas no one reads or prepares for - Overloading the template with every possible topic
What to skip: - Over-customizing for every minor change - Using Fellow as a dumping ground for notes no one revisits
Keep it simple, and iterate
Don’t expect a template to fix every meeting problem. But if you keep your agenda short, actually use it, and tweak as you go, you’ll save a ton of time—and maybe even look forward to your recurring meetings.
Start small, keep it simple, and improve only when you need to. The best meetings aren’t the ones with the fanciest templates—they’re the ones where everyone knows why they’re there and what needs to get done.