An Agenda is a step-by-step outline of the points to be covered at a meeting. It is advisable that everyone attending a meeting should receive a tentative agenda in advance for the following reasons:
· Ensuring that important business is not overlooked
· A reminder to all those planning to attend the meeting
· Allows attendees to prepare for discussion topics
· Creates a sense of focus for the meeting group and gives attendees time to think about how they will contribute to the meeting.
Important things to keep in mind when developing an Agenda:
· The early part of any meeting is the time when discussion is more lively and creative. So in saying this try to place items requiring mental energy, bright ideas and clear heads early on the Agenda.
· The order of Agenda items can influence the atmosphere of the meeting so take time to think about this well before bringing the Agenda together.
· Always have a time limit on an Agenda as this focused discussion and encourages decision making.
· Depending on the type of meeting and group who is to say that you defiantly need a defined Agenda prior to the meeting. Why not have a white board and at the start of a meeting the group decides on the Agenda for the meeting in the first 10mins. This can allow everyone to have input and discussion to be more productive.
· No matter which way you go in the layout and structure of an Agenda it is important that your meeting has some sort of structure and focus otherwise it will be just another one of those boring meetings where everyone walks away feeling like nothing was accomplished.
Below is videos on The Agenda that hopefully gives you a few other ideas.
Please post your comments in regards to your experiences with meetings and Agenda’s. Did you get an Agenda prior to the meeting? Did the meeting flow? Do you have a certain way that you think an Agenda should be developed?
I have always received an Agenda prior to meetings, although they haven't always run on schedule.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is only one way of developing an agenda; based on different organisations it isn't always suitable for some to develop Agenda's similar to other organisations' methods. I believe creating an Agenda at the start of the meeting whereby everyone has an input on the structure and direction of the meeting could be an effective tool in engaging the audience's interest, hence getting more out of a meeting.
An Agenda is an important component of any meeting and most meetings I have been involved in has had some kind of agenda in place. Some have been very simple and some have had a little bit too much on it. I do beleive from my experiences that a meeting needs direction and and Agenda is important in setting this in place. For some meetings doing a collaborative agenda with the group before the beginning of the meeting is a great idea and something I will look into doing in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI worked for a hospital and it had a large number of committees. I was responsible for preparing some of the agendas and for writing up the minutes of the those meeting. The hospital had developed a template that streamlined the production of both the agenda and minutes of the meetings. They were always approved by the meeting chairperson prior to being distributed. I found that an agenda always reminded members when the meeting was on soon and prompted them to follow up on anything they had not already done for the meeting.
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