How to Write an Agenda for a Meeting Milton ON

Steps

1. Start preparation well in advance. It will show if you rush the agenda - you're likely to forget things or to put things in the wrong order.
2. Ask the key people attending the meeting if they have any issues they would like to raise. Do this well enough in advance to be able to incorporate it into the agenda.
3. Organize the agenda issues. Consider whether there any issues that can be combined because they are related, similar, or even the same in terms of means or ends. If so, arrange them under one agenda item. Organize the order events according to time and importance. If something really needs to be discussed urgently or as a matter of priority, you may wish to put it near the top of the agenda so you can be certain you will get to it in the course of the meeting. Some people like to put things that take a lot of time near the top of the agenda, so that they can be certain they will be able to talk at length about them. Others prefer to put such items near the bottom as it means that discussion on these topics won't push other items off the agenda and discussion that does occur will be forced to be succinct; it's your call dependent on the topic. It may take a little trial and error to decide on an organization style you like.
4. Check the agenda for errors. Doing so reflects on your attention to detail and care for your position. It also prevents people being distracted by minor errors or by making points of order about errors.
5. Print the agenda or email it to all attendees. You should do this as near to the actual meeting as possible. If emailing, only do so if this has been agreed to by prior arrangement and always have spare paper copies up your sleeve at the meeting. Someone always forgets to bring a printed copy!

Tips

• If your company has a special form for agendas, use this form as a template. For some places, it is essential to stick to the formula.
• Depending what your colleagues are prefer, it might be worth keeping to a deadline for people suggesting ideas to add to the agenda. Name a cut-off date and time, and stick to it. Allow for amendments where these enhance the agenda or are simply a case of events overriding your original agenda.
• If somebody cannot make the meeting, consider creating an "Advance Apologies" section at the top of the agenda, or leave a space for this and simply announce them during the meeting.
• An excellent tool for having a productive meeting is using "OARR": Objectives, Agenda, Roles & Responsibilities. First, your meeting should have an objective. If you are having a meeting to just impart information, don't waste people's time with a meeting. Send them a newsletter. The objective should have an active component and if possible, a product to show for it: "Determine the quarterly goals for the team". The agenda is a list of the topics you'll address to get to that objective, with a time limit to keep you on track. For example "1. Review the status of last quarter's goals (15 minutes), 2. Round-table suggestions for goals (20 minutes), 3. Pick top 5 goals (10 minutes), etc.) For Roles and Responsibilities, determine who is running the meeting, who is keeping notes, and who will assign actions/"to do" items resulting from the meeting.

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