Quickly Create Effective Meeting Agendas

For a meeting to be better than no meeting, it must be well designed. Creating an agenda in advance helps.?Answer these questions to quickly create and use effective agendas.

Why are we meeting??

Clearly determine the meeting purpose and include it at the top of the agenda. Pay particular attention to the sponsor of the meeting. Why did she call it and what is she hoping to accomplish?

What topics will we need to discuss?

List, organize, and set time limits for each topic the meeting will cover.

What should participants do to prepare?

Indicate on the agenda if there is anything participants should have reviewed or read before the meeting begins. Provide links so complying is easy.?

What platform shall we use for the agenda?

Most agendas should be collaborative so that participants can preview the agenda and add notes that may improve the meeting. A Google Doc or a note in the calendar invite itself are common agenda platforms.?

What agenda format makes sense??

Look through available meeting templates online and adopt a style that is both visually appealing and useful to your team. Include all the section elements you’ll regularly need and delete any you don’t.?

?? TIP: To make scanning meeting agendas a quick task,?stick to the same format unless and until a change is needed.

When shall we send out the agenda, and to whom?

Choose a strategic time to send out the agenda: early enough for participants to prepare, but not so soon that they will ignore the task. Send the agenda to all meeting participants and to anyone who may have something to contribute, even if they’re not attending the meeting.?

How shall we use the agenda during and after the meeting?

• Assign someone to keep the meeting on track by referring to the agenda timings.?
• Assign someone to take notes on each item discussed.
• Further, ask the note taker to add action items as they are assigned to each participant at the end of the agenda for easy review. Schedule a timed reminder message about the action items if that would be useful.

How pleased with ourselves should we be if we create awesome agendas for our meetings?

Very. Very pleased.?

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