One idea is maybe breaking down a big problem into smaller ones. If there are a few possible avenues to attempt for an RnD project maybe try one or a couple of

One idea is maybe breaking down a big problem into smaller ones. If there are a few possible avenues to attempt for an RnD project maybe try one or a couple of them at a time - if they don't work then you can mention what happened and that you'll be moving on to try other options. Probably a lot of this depends on the organization and how work items are tracked. Best of luck, i'm of the impression nobody really likes update meetings