How to write meeting agendas

2. A meeting takes place when people come together
for a purpose (whether for work, clubs, sports,
school, volunteer organizations, etc.)
An agenda is an organized plan or list of matters
for a meeting.

3. What was the last meeting that you attended?
What made that meeting satisfying/unsatisfying?

4. No set time frame for the meeting
No agenda or plan
Discussion got side-tracked
Participants came unprepared
Waste of time and no decisions made
Lack of participation, etc.

5. BEFORE DURING AFTER
 Meetings are structured through writing before, during, and after the
event.
 Meetings are already a common element of your school/work/leisure
routines.
 Meeting effectiveness can be weakened by not planning, not preparing
a good agenda, not following the prepared agenda, not recording the
decisions made, and not following up on decisions and plans.

6. A meeting agenda is a list of activities that participants are hoping to
accomplish during their meeting. It serves several purposes:
 It gives the attendees prior notice of what will be discussed.
 It sets clear expectations for what needs to occur before and during a
meeting.
 It keeps the participants focused on the topic at hand.
 It sets the pace of the meeting.
 It acts as a time management tool.

8. STEP 1: BEFORE A MEETING:
Before a meeting an agenda should be written out and distributed.
Agendas are a powerful form of writing because they:
 help groups structure communication activity
 help people stay focused and on task
 provide a checklist of what exactly needs to be accomplished
 ensure that meeting activities run according to time constraints
 generally make meetings more organized and productive

9. Good agenda items are:
Specific
Result-oriented
Timed
Realistic

10. Good agenda items are timed, specific, realistic, and result-
oriented.
 Brainstorm news items for bulletin (10 min)
 Choose the logo for the website (15 min)
 Identify pros and cons of using Twitter (12 min)
 Update team members on budget (6 min)

11. Bad agenda items are NOT specific, goal-oriented, timed, or
realistic.
 Grad school applications
 Talk about financial aid
 Discuss marketing
 Create political campaign

12. Explicitly clarify which category each agenda item falls into helps your team
deliver exactly the input that is expected of them.
Don't forget to include additional helpful details, for example, who will be
presenting each topic and how long each presentation will take.
 Information items. This includes any updates you may want to share with
the group.
 Action items. These are the tasks your team should complete during or after
the meeting.
 Discussion items. These are all the topics you want your team to provide
feedback on.

13. STEP 2: DURING A MEETING:
During a meeting the agenda should be used and followed as closely as
possible.
When using an agenda, the meeting participants will need to select three
people to act as:
the meeting chair (lead)
the meeting note-taker
the meeting time-keeper
Each of these people will also participate in the discussion as an
attendee

14. STEP 3: AFTER THE MEETING:
Meeting minutes are written and distributed shortly after a meeting
takes place.
Required components of meeting minutes:
 Agenda – an exact copy of the meeting agenda, including allotted times.
 Attendees – who attended, who was absent, who came as a guest.
 Summaries of each agenda item discussed – detailed enough so that
anyone who was not present would get the gist by reading the minutes.
 Action items – the next steps agreed upon during the meeting,
including what needs to be done by who and by when.

15. Good meeting minutes are:
Complete
Detailed and concise
Include actions items that tell us what, who, when

17.  https://www.nuclino.com/articles/team-meeting-agenda-examples
 https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-meeting-
agenda