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Master Your Game: Designing an Effective Meeting Agenda

Guest post by: Jacque Small

Article Overview: An agenda planning session should occur prior to every meeting. Just as an architect wouldn't dream of showing up at a construction site without a well-thought out design, facilitators need to create their own blueprints for each session. Meetings can be a waste of time and energy if no one is prepared and participants are forced to make decisions without adequate information. Last month, we discussed meeting management styles. This month, we discuss the effective agenda. Use The Agenda As A Strategic Tool

Master Your Game: Designing an Effective Meeting Agenda

An agenda planning session should occur prior to every meeting. Just as an architect wouldn't dream of showing up at a construction site without a well-thought out design, facilitators need to create their own blueprints for each session.

Meetings can be a waste of time and energy if no one is prepared and participants are forced to make decisions without adequate information. Last month, we discussed meeting management styles. This month, we discuss the effective agenda.

Use The Agenda As A Strategic Tool

" Most people think the Agenda is the most important part of a meeting. WRONG! The agenda is simply a tool to get you to your destination . . "
Dike Drummond in Cut Your Meeting Time in Half
published at www.superteams.com

To prepare an agenda, here are some quick quidelines*:

Communicate your objective for the meeting. The purpose of the meeting must be clear and communicated to participants before the event so that people have time to prepare.
Clarify the desired outcome for each topic. If the outcome is not defined, people will make their own assumptions about what they are being asked to accomplish. As shown in this diagram, designing the agenda begins with a list of all potential topics and ends with the outcome. Some potential outcomes include identifying what information needs to be gathered, identifying the criteria for making a decision, deciding on next steps, or making a final decision.
Break down discussions if needed. Narrow objectives can be accomplished in a single meeting while more significant goals take more time. Therefore, if the topic under discussion is significant, the discussion may need to be broken down into several steps to allow for thoughtful solutions.
Someone must lead. The person in charge presents the agenda at the meeting and explains the objectives for each topic item. (See last month's newsletter for the difference between facilitating and chairing meetings.)
Manage the agenda. Because plenty of work can be accomplished between meetings, the agenda does not need to be over crowded in an attempt to get everything done.

Take advantage of time between meetings to:

Seek input from other parties
Research
Move the thinking forward

Remember that a well-designed agenda produces specific, actionable outcomes. Use it wisely and improve your meeting effectiveness.

Next month, I will talk about the Meeting Process Design.

Wishing you effective meetings,
Jacque Small

*Adapted from a Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making by Sam Kaner, Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, Sarah Fisk and Duane Berger

Related Articles
  The Sales Meeting Agenda
  How to Hold Motivational Meetings
  How to hold effective meetings
  Effective Meetings
  Make Meetings Work - Use An Agenda!

Article Tags: decisions, effective meeting, management styles, meeting management



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