Meetings Agenda

A meeting agenda is a list of items that participants hope to accomplish at a meeting. The agenda should be distributed in advance of a meeting, minimally 24 hours in advance so that participants have the opportunity to prepare for the meeting.

1. Developing a Meeting Agenda:
   First, identify whether other employees are needed to help you plan the meeting. Then, decide what you hope to accomplish by holding the meeting, and establish doable goals for your meeting. The goals you set will establish the framework for an effective meeting plan. Make certain that you have not planned more than is reasonably achievable within the time frame of your meeting.
   As Stephen Covey said in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, "Begin with the end in mind." Your meeting purpose will determine the meeting focus, the meeting agenda, and the meeting participants.
2. Decisions to Make:
   After determining your overall goal, you or your team need to make certain decisions. In addition to the purpose or goal of the meeting, also include with your agenda:
   • A date, time, and location for the meeting.
   • Participants needed in the meeting.
   • Items for discussion.
   • The amount of time that you anticipate the group will need to discuss each item.
   • Pre-work for the meeting. This will include any reading, documentation, data, meeting minutes from a prior meeting, or any other preparation that will make your actual meeting successful. Relevant documents should be attached to the meeting notice and agenda when you distribute them to invited participants
3. Regularly Scheduled Meetings:
   Not every meeting needs a custom developed agenda. Most employees have regularly scheduled meetings for their departments or workgroups. You also have teams and projects in which you participate.
   The regularly scheduled employee meeting is divided into three segments for which each has standard agenda items:
   • Informational items: Write out any agenda items that are informational for every meeting. For example, the manager updates the group on the outcomes of the senior management meeting.
   • Action items: Place on the agenda any items that you expect the group will want to review at every regularly scheduled meeting. For example, performance to budget for the time period and the identification of cost savings and continuous improvements the group plans to achieve.
   • Forward planning: Place on the agenda any items that the group wants to plan for or prepare for in advance. For example, the short-term goals for the next month or the need for coworker assistance on upcoming assignments.
   If you follow these guidelines when you develop your meeting agenda, you enhance the probability that your meeting will be more productive.

What Should Be Included on an Agenda?

Almost all business follows a similar format of an agenda to run their meeting effectively and ensure that it stays on time. To make your meeting as effective as them, include these things in your agenda or download our printable agenda here to make everything easy for you.

• The title of the agenda: The titles are important in any agenda example as it can be used as identification.
• The objective of the meeting: The objective of the meeting should also be included in the meeting to remind the participants about what the meeting is all about and what it hopes to achieve.
• The topics and/or activities: The agenda should list all the topics or activities to be addressed in a meeting.
• The time allocation: Every topic and/or activities must have a time allocation so that it will be followed accordingly.
• Call to action: The agenda should have a call to action that signifies the start and end of the meeting.

Easy Steps to Writing an Agenda

Follow these easy step in writing an agenda:

• Write the title of the agenda.
• Followed by a who, when, and where information.
• Write an overview of the meeting.
• Outline the topics and/or activities and give a sufficient allotted time.
• Add extra instructions.
• Check for errors.

Tips for Writing an Agenda

• Create the agenda three or more days or even weeks before the actual meeting. It gives you more time in preparing the agenda and gives enough time to cover all the important information.
• Set up a standard meeting agenda. The meeting agenda includes progress updates, upcoming milestones, and a list of people who will not be around in the next few weeks.
• Consult the team. Get input from the team about what needs to be addressed and discussed.
• Write all the important information. The topics, activities, updates and time must all be present in the free agenda.
• Follow a standard and well-structured agenda. The agenda must be understood by everyone who will read it.
• Distribute it before the actual meeting. So that the participants are informed and notified beforehand.

Dos and Don’ts of an Agenda

1. Dos
   • Plan and prepare the agenda ahead of time.
   • Give your agenda a title.
   • Include all the necessary information in your agenda.
   • Follow a standard agenda format.
   • Make your agenda clear and well-written.
2. Dont`s
   • Distribute it during the actual meeting.
   • Not preparing adequately.
   • Providing irrelevant, unnecessary, and insignificant information.
   • Using unfamiliar terminologies and jargon that are not familiar with the company.
   • Providing unorganized and disordered agenda.