You can send out an email ahead of time or visit with people individually. Make sure to do this at least 6-7 days ahead of time so that your team members have a chance to contribute. You want to have the agenda finalized 3-4 days before the meeting.
A meeting can have more than one goal. For instance, you might want to share progress reports to help you make decisions about the future.
For instance, if you and another person need to get together about a new project, set up a separate meeting for that. If you use up valuable meeting time for an issue that’s solvable by a few people, others will feel like you’re wasting their time. Plus, it’s hard to schedule meetings with a large number of people, so make use of the opportunity.
For instance, maybe you have “negotiating project deadlines,” “progress reports,” “new projects,” and “brainstorming session. " You may decide you don’t have time for a brainstorming session at this meeting. You may need to schedule smaller meetings to help get things done that fall off your main agenda for the big meeting.
For instance, you might want to put decision-making items ahead of progress reports (unless you need to hear the progress reports to make the decision). Plus, if the meeting needs to end early or certain attendees need to leave before it finishes, you’ll already have discussed the most important topics.
For example, maybe you’ll put in 30 minutes for progress reports, 10 minutes for discussion, and 10 minutes to vote on new deadlines. If you don’t have any set times for topics, you won’t get through your agenda. Think about timing ahead of the meeting because you may decide you can’t cover everything you want to in the time allotted. Factor in the number of people attending your meeting when determining time increments. If you have 15 people and you give a topic 15 minutes, that means that each person can only speak for less than a minute. Even if not every person speaks, that may be a tight fit. [8] X Trustworthy Source Harvard Business Review Online and print journal covering topics related to business management practices Go to source
For instance, your title could be “July Meeting Agenda: Discussing New Project Ideas” or “August 2019 Meeting Agenda: Moving Project Deadlines Up. " Stick to a plain, business font like Times New Roman or Calibri.
You could also use an ice breaker if the meeting includes many people who don’t know each other. If you’re writing an agenda for a large meeting, say at a conference, the time needed for this portion could be significant. At a small office meeting, this portion might only take a few minutes. You can also leave a space for agenda changes at the beginning.
For instance, instead of writing, “Project Deadlines,” you could write, “Can project deadlines be moved up to meet growing demand?” If needed, add a brief description under the question.
It also gives people a chance to shorten their remarks if the timing is short.
For example, say the agenda item is, “Can project deadlines be moved up to meet growing demand?” Your process might be “10 minutes to discuss current progress. 15 minutes to establish what it would take to increase productivity. 10 minutes to weigh pros and cons. 5 minutes to vote on whether deadlines should be moved up. "
If you’re leading the whole meeting, you can note that at the top of the agenda.
It is best to contact the guests ahead of time to figure out how much time each one will need for their discussion topic. This helps to avoid embarrassing scheduling conflicts.
When you include on the agenda, it lets members know they’ll have a chance to contribute even if what they need to talk about isn’t covered by your agenda. You can also include time for questions and answers in this section.
It’s also a good idea to include people who would normally be there but can’t come to this meeting. Make it clear they won’t be able to attend. Include a map or directions if you have people who aren’t familiar with your area attending the meeting.
Create a space at the bottom of the agenda. Make it stand out with bold font or highlighting so that participants see it.
For larger meetings at conferences, you may need to get the agenda out months ahead of time.
