Agendas help structure your time at meetings and play a key role in making your meeting effective.   Below are ten quick tips to help you develop agendas for your own meetings:

1. Plan ahead: Develop your agenda before your actual meeting.

2. Involve your leadership:  Have the organization’s leadership (often the Executive Director and President) plan the agenda together and forward it to other Board members before their meeting for their input.

3. Set time limits:  Estimate the amount of time for each agenda item to help keep the group on track towards making decisions. 

4. Have meeting participants lead different items: Make sure each agenda item has someone leading it and that they are prepared to present it.

5. Use your time wisely: Use your time together to make important group decisions. Minimize updates and reports.

6. Don’t pack in too much:  Prioritize the most important decisions you need to make.

7. Review:  Review the agenda before you start the meeting and make sure all are in agreement.

8. Stick to the agenda:  Many temptations exist to go off-topic.  If a good idea comes up, but is outside of the agenda, add it to a list of future agenda topics.

9. Plan for breaks: Give yourself some time to stretch, socialize and rest during meetings. 

10. Brainstorm future agenda items at the end of your meeting:  Use the end of the meeting to start listing potential agenda topics for your next meeting.

I hope these tips help and wish you the best as you move forward meeting in whatever group you are a part of.   If you need assistance putting together an agenda, please contact me.