We’ve all been to unproductive meetings that are a waste of time and money. Whether it’s the wrong people in the room or irrelevant discussions, time spent in meetings isn’t free. A meeting agenda that’s efficient will allow you to achieve the purpose of the meeting and make it easier to achieve company goals.
A well-organized and concise agenda for a meeting helps everyone understand what will happen during the meeting and prepares participants for it. Include the following items on your agenda to ensure that it is effective.
Note all the expected outcomes and the goal of your meeting. This will allow you to keep your attention on the most important issues and prevent unnecessary side-bars.
Define what will be discussed for each item. This will include a www.boardroomliving.com/differences-between-agenda-management-and-meeting-management/ short description of the topic and who is responsible for discussing the topic. It will also indicate how much time to devote to the discussion. It is also important to include the location and the time zone of the meeting, particularly in remote teams.
Consider listing each item on the agenda as a query to be addressed by members of the group. (Example: “What steps do we need to take to rent equipment ?”). Making each discussion point an open-ended question can encourage discussion and improve understanding of what is expected of the meeting.
Include a procedure for how you expect each agenda item to be handled. This is among the most overlooked meeting elements and can significantly increase the effectiveness of your meetings. Without a clear process participants will decide for themselves how to approach the subject that could lead to off-topic conversations or even an entire meeting that is a disaster. By having a procedure, it will allow participants to alter their remarks to fit the time allotted or to suggest that more time be set aside for a specific topic.
