The Meeting Agenda Details
by Susan Otto
 If you’ve created an agenda…what am I saying? If you even considered creating an agenda for your team meetings, you are steps ahead of most organizations. In the past articles, What? A Meeting Agenda? and Agenda Additions, important concepts for creating effective agendas were shared. Now it’s time to consider the “small” items.
Consider taking your meeting agendas to the next level by including the following ideas, which seem common sense, but can easily be forgotten or overlooked:
Name of the meeting. Be sure that the name of the meeting is the heading listed on the agenda.
Date. Meetings should be scheduled far enough in advance to allow attendees to prepare and “adjust their calendars.” In addition, some attendees may be representing someone else, who is unable to make the meeting. So, consider whether the meeting is scheduled far enough in advance and, if not, whether it is important enough to “adjust” calendars.
Overall length of time. This is the start and stop time for the meeting. For short meetings, the length of time should be no more than one hour. Knowing ahead of time how long the meeting will last, enables team members to know what to expect. According to How to Have Successful Meetings (Dave Wiggins on CED Magazine website), the most productive time for meetings is before lunch – around 11:00.
Break and lunch times. Yes, list the break and lunch times. This allows attendees to know that these times have been allotted in the schedule and allows them to return phone calls or schedule phone calls during that time.
Refreshments provided and/or required. This is just a courtesy to let attendees know if they will need to bring their own refreshments, especially if the meeting will be long. It also allows those with dietary restrictions to make adjustments as is necessary for their comfort.
Location of meeting. When determining the location, consider whether it is centrally located and/or convenient for the attendees. Determine if the actual meeting room will be well-suited to accomplish the team’s purpose, having access to the necessary materials, such as diagrams, reports, tables, chairs, flip charts, projectors, etc.
Name and titles of attendees. Perhaps those “invited” will not know all the attendees present, so be sure to list all names and titles. Consider including their role in the meeting as well, such as guests or additional attendees such as stakeholders, customers, subject matter experts, etc.
These items may seem somewhat trivial in the scheme of the agenda. You may be right. However, if you’re going to all the trouble of creating an effective agenda, perhaps adding these small touches will make the meeting all the more effective for you and the attendees.
(For more information on creating effective meetings, check out Meetings: A Roadmap to Success eWorkbook at www.Self-StudyCourse.com.)
Susan Otto, the president of Training-Modules.com, LLC, is committed to effectively partner with organizations and their employees to achieve strategic initiatives necessary for organizational success. Susan designs customized facilitator and participant guides for companies that want to do their own internal training. Contact her at 859.292.0095 or email her. For information about Susan’s training modules, visit the Modules section of Training-Modules.com.
 Article PDF
You may need the Adobe Acrobat Reader™ to view and print this document. You can download the FREE Reader at www.adobe.com.
Copyright 2010 Training-Modules.com, LLC. All rights reserved. While you may copy this publication, its content may not be modified. You may, and are encouraged to, share the publication with others who may benefit from receiving it.
|
