Business

Set up a meeting agenda and optimize your time

admin • 17 Sep 2023

The meeting is the company's main moment for debate and alignment, but many employees do not like to participate. And it's not because they're afraid of being scolded or embarrassed, but because they feel like they're wasting work time when the meeting agenda isn't well structured.

Delays, repetitive speeches and unnecessary subjects are some reasons that take participants' focus and make the moment unproductive. Therefore, the company must develop strategies to manage time with more quality in these moments. And one of the main strategies in this case is the creation of a meeting agenda.

Serving as a guide, the meeting agenda allows for an alignment of the topics to be worked on and time to address everything that needs to be talked about. In addition, it serves as an aid to document these same matters in the minutes.

Have you found that your meetings are getting out of focus? Do you have difficulty managing time to cover all the necessary topics? In this post, we will explain what a meeting agenda is and how to create it. Keep reading and check it out:

What is a meeting agenda?

The meeting agenda is a type of script, in which all the topics that need to be discussed during the meeting are listed in an orderly manner. It is also a call list that must be sent to all employees who need to be at the meeting.

After all, it can be uncomfortable to discover a meeting at the last minute and not have time to prepare and organize, as each employee has their own obligations and deadlines to meet.

A meeting agenda should:

• notify about the type of meeting that will be held, time, duration and location;
• determine whether there is a need to take any additional material;
• advise whether attendance is mandatory or optional;
• organize subjects in order of relevance;
• alert if there is a need to justify the absence.

How to make a meeting agenda?

To create a good meeting agenda, one of the tips is to talk to employees and ask what they think should be discussed about their areas.
There are some ways to create a well-structured meeting agenda, just follow some tips, such as: defining the meeting format, listing the subjects, determining the duration, sending the agenda to participants and asking for help from employees to structure the meeting. meeting.

Now, better understand these tips for creating an optimized meeting agenda:

set the format

Will the meeting be business, informative (to convey important news to the teams, for example), for discussions or  brainstorming style ? Defining and informing the format through the meeting agenda already makes participants aware of their roles during the meeting.

list the subjects

This moment requires more analysis and reflection. What topics do you really need to address during the meeting? In what order? Is a certain topic really relevant to this meeting? Believe me: there are issues that can be resolved in a 5-minute conversation if the meeting is well planned.

Remember that the organization of subjects also influences the interest of participants. If something unforeseen happens and it is not possible to talk about everything, the topics that are not covered will be the least relevant.

Another detail is that the list of topics on the meeting agenda allows teams to research in advance and, if desired, bring additional materials to contribute to the meeting.

Determine the duration

It is very common to start addressing a subject (which may not even be the most important of the meeting), get carried away and, when it comes time to move on to the next one, the meeting time is already over.

As a result, there is that feeling of wasted time, and you have 3 alternatives: create an extraordinary meeting, leave the agenda for the next one or postpone the end. Whatever the choice, all participants end up disadvantaged, as they will have to postpone their tasks again.

Defining the duration for each topic when creating the meeting agenda is essential for the meeting to be dynamic. Obviously, some topics require a greater approach, so know how to balance the number of relevant topics with the time needed for each one.

The meeting must also start and end at the time specified in the meeting agenda. This way, everyone will be aware that they must be at the correct time and that their activities will not be compromised by possible delays. Furthermore, sticking to schedules shows respect for employees.

Another important tip for following the meeting agenda is to have someone responsible to monitor the time. It can even warn that “5 minutes left to start” or “10 minutes to finish”. This way, no one will be cut off or harmed.

Send the list to participants

As we said, some collaborators may feel the need to provide additional material for a specific topic. There won't be time if they find out about matters at the last minute. Therefore, send the meeting agenda at least 24 hours before the meeting.

Ask employees for help

You don't need to define the topics yourself. There are issues that are important for a certain sector and the meeting is the opportunity to discuss them. Ask employees to suggest topics for the meeting agenda and, if possible, justify why they are being addressed.

If you already have some issues you want to discuss, ask them how best to address them. This way, professionals will feel more important during the meeting, and not just extras. Therefore, they will hardly be absent, even if attendance is optional.

As you have seen how a meeting agenda can organize your time and help you prioritize what is really relevant to the company.