Meeting Agenda Template

1. Tips for Keeping Meeting on Track

1.1. start on time

1.1.1. starting late shows people you disrespect their time and work

1.1.2. if you start late, you train people to arrive late

1.1.3. people arriving late will realize they are disrupting the meeting

1.2. stick to the agenda

1.2.1. any new business brought up has to go for consideration for a future agenda

1.3. stick to the time allotted for each item

1.3.1. use a timer

1.4. don't let conversational bullies take over

1.4.1. refer to ground rules about interruptions and making your points quickly

1.4.2. ensure quiet staff can make their voice heard

1.5. end on time

1.5.1. show you respect their time

1.6. followup on action plan

2. Meeting Preparation

2.1. If your meeting is important enough to interrupt all these people's important work, it is important enough to do prep work for

2.2. Set Ground Rules

2.2.1. Ground Rules Poster

2.2.1.1. follow link to download a free copy of these ground rules

2.3. Designate Meeting Facilitator

2.4. Set Meeting Purpose

2.4.1. What problem are you trying to solve?

2.4.2. If your meeting has no important purpose, why have a meeting?

2.4.2.1. If the purpose is just to update people, why not just email everyone

2.4.2.2. calculate meeting cost to determine if the purpose is important enough to take people away from their important work

2.5. Choose the Right People

2.5.1. the people needed to solve the problem

2.6. Create Agenda

2.6.1. Send agenda to all participants

2.7. Reports

2.7.1. have reports ready and circulated before meeting

2.7.2. this saves significant time

2.7.2.1. no reading out reports aloud

2.7.2.2. people can come prepared with questions

2.8. Choose Note Taker/Action Plan Creator

2.8.1. this person takes notes during the meeting

2.8.1.1. Mindmap

2.8.1.2. Notes program

2.8.1.3. smartphone pictures of whiteboards

2.8.1.4. Audio recording

2.8.2. then creates an action plan to go to all members

2.8.2.1. ideally the tasks go into your task management program

2.8.2.2. alternatively in a list/email to everyone

2.8.2.3. due dates and priority levels

3. Meeting Agenda

3.1. Review Ground Rules

3.1.1. definitely review for first meeting with new ground rules

3.1.2. review again with new people or when people are forgetting

3.2. Review Purpose of Meeting

3.2.1. restate the purpose of the meeting so people know why they are there

3.3. Agenda Item

3.3.1. add each agenda item

3.3.2. drag and drop them into place

3.3.2.1. most important items first

3.3.2.2. ensures enough time available for most important item

3.3.2.3. in case some people need to leave

3.3.3. set a time limit for each item

3.3.4. if an item needs more research, action or follow-up, assign a person to this

3.3.5. Use the icons on this mind map to number them

3.3.6. you can also use the mind map agenda to take notes during the session

3.3.7. Note: remember to research possible tools to automate this process

3.4. Agenda Item

3.5. Agenda Item

3.6. Agenda Item

3.7. Action Plan Reminder

3.7.1. remind people that they will be assigned tasks/actions based on the meeting that they will be responsible for