Having No Agenda Sucks

Meetings with no agendas are like road trips with no maps. They can be fun and spontaneous, and you never know where you might end up. This no-structure approach felt great when my brother Tim and I headed down to Panama City for spring break in college, but it flat-out sucks when talking about a productive meeting.

If you have a stated purpose for your meeting, the agenda will naturally follow as part of your preparation. If you plan to conduct a meeting that encompasses other people's time, then it deserves to have serious thought put into it. An agenda doesn't have to be complex. Rather, it has to guarantee your understanding that you need to create one!

I confess, I find it a tad alarming I have to address such an essential meeting concept here. But the fact is that most people still don't understand the basics of an agenda. They either don't take the time to create one or don't know how.

I've often been asked, “Why is an agenda essential when, for example, it's the same four people working through the changes in a proposal? In such a case, is an agenda really necessary?” You bet it is! Otherwise, your group meeting has no form, no structure, and no idea of what should take place. This in turn leads you down the path of multiple sucky meeting types as discussed in Agenda Item 6. And no one likes sucky meetings. No one.

On the flip side, you might have created an ineffective agenda and sent it to attendees. When that happens, people simply won't come prepared because they don't know what the desired outcomes of the meeting should be. Well, at least you deserve an “atta girl” or “atta boy” for setting an agenda.

Preparing even the most basic agenda will save time, frustration, and conflict while increasing engagement and participation. Remember, agendas are not the meeting notes; they are a map of the process to reach your goal.

If you're new to agenda making—and even if you aren't—consider these basics when you create an agenda for your next meeting.

Facilitator SRDs

• Clearly identify desired outcomes and common objectives.
• State the precise date, time, and location; set start and end times.
• Assign a specific amount of time for each agenda item, building in breaks if needed.
• Include time to review action items in a recap session at the end. If you don't, follow-up items may not get documented and acted on.
• Because you want people to participate, schedule them into the agenda. Nothing says “you'd better be prepared” like having the person's name listed to give a plan update or minipresentation, even if it's only one or two minutes long.
• Include supporting or required reading in your agenda. State whether it should be read or reviewed before the meeting or simply brought along.
• Place your most important items first. If you don't get to the other topics, this still leaves you accomplishing the most important issues in the meeting.
• Make sure invited attendees have a final agenda in hand within 24 hours of the meeting. Allow more time when a more formal or detailed agenda is required.
• Ask that comments, additions, or suggested changes to the agenda be made by a specified time. Make this clear in all your premeeting communications. Why? This gives you greater ability to control tangents and identify challenges ahead of time. It also opens the door for attendees to get or give any additional value they deem necessary.
• Make sure to include rebuttal time for agenda items that could require debating.
• Communicate any agenda changes in advance to all attendees, with any necessary invitation, preparation, or planning points adjusted.
• Include your contact information for comments or questions.

Attendee SRDs

• If the meeting is called for within 24 hours and you have no idea what's it's about, then ask. Send a simple e-mail with a subject line s to this: “Requesting meeting agenda and objectives for tomorrow at 2:01.”
• If it's a surprise to see your name in the agenda, make sure you are clear about what's expected of you. If you're not, contact the organizer. Walk in with a clear idea of your role in the meeting.
• If a start time is posted but not an end time, request one. (This happens because of lack of experience or forgetfulness on the meeting planner's part.) Kindly remind the facilitator that you have other issues to deal with that day and want to plan accordingly.

Undoubtedly, an agenda can and will change. It's an important living document that controls the flow of communication, the timing of presentations, and the overall structure. Nike trademarked the concept well: “Just do it.”