How to Create an Effective Meeting Agenda

We’ve all attended unproductive meetings that waste time and money. Meetings aren’t always free regardless of participants who are not the right ones or a lack of discussion. An effective meeting agenda ensures that you meet the goal of your meeting and work closer towards the goals of your business.

A concise and clear agenda helps everyone understand what’s going to happen in the meeting and helps participants prepare for it. Include the following items in your agenda for meetings to ensure that it is effective.

Note all the expected outcomes and the reason for your meeting. This will allow you to keep your attention on the most important issues and avoid unproductive side-bars.

Then for each item on the agenda, identify what will be discussed. This will include an outline of the subject, who is responsible for the discussion and how much time needs to be allocated to the discussion. It is also important to include the location and time zone of the meeting, particularly for teams that are remote.

If you’re a team that is collaborative, consider making each agenda item questions that are to be addressed by the group (i.e., “What steps should we take to rent equipment?” ?”). Making each discussion point a question can stimulate discussion and improve understanding of what’s expected at the meeting.

Include a process to define how you’ll expect each agenda item to be discussed. This is an aspect of a meeting which is often neglected, but can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the meeting. A clear process will allow participants to decide how to approach a topic which could lead to off-topic discussions or www.boardroomliving.com/what-are-the-different-board-member-roles-and-responsibilities/ even a complete breakdown of the meeting. With a clear process, attendees can adapt their remarks to can be within the time frame allotted or suggest additional time to discuss a particular issue.