How to Create a Meeting Agenda ?
Do you have to plan an upcoming meeting and want to create an effective meeting agenda? You are clearly at the right place. Meeting agenda is not something that happens randomly. It has to be well planned and should be conducted in a professional manner.
The aim of creating a meeting agenda is to have track of all the key issues and points that should be addressed in the meeting. It can be a stressful task, but we are here to help.
Guide to Create a Perfect Meeting Agenda
- First of all, prepare an invite and send it across to all the participants stating the day, time and location of the meeting. Ask the invitees to acknowledge your invitation and let you know whether or not should you expect them. You can send the invite via email.
- Define your goals! Like we have already suggested, the goal of the meeting should be made clear at the earliest.
- Do your research. Prepare well before creating the project agenda. Get to know your clients and invitees well before the meeting.
- Request the participants to provide an agenda item for the email. Make sure you give them a time frame so that you receive all the agenda requests much before the meeting and you have time for further preparations.
- After receiving all the agenda request you should put them together in a table of content that should serve as a summary. Every agenda item should be in sync with the objective of the meeting.
- Prepare the agenda by mentioning the roles and details of the participants. Also mention the order in which the participants will be presenting their agendas. Mention details like time and location for the meeting.
- Send another email to the participants, a day or two before the meeting, stating the team agenda, goals, location and time. They should receive a well organized document with all the details regarding the meeting agenda which also include the agenda item list.
- Listen to all the participants and let them share their ideas and vision
- Before the meeting is ended, it is important to decide the next step. Discuss with the members and decide on the follow up of the meeting.
- Follow up with all the members after the meeting and also send them thank you note for their valuable presence. This helps you in creating a great first impression.
Meeting Agenda Templates
To everyone who finds preparing meeting agenda a tedious task, we have an alternate solution for you. These are ample number of templates available in the market that can help you create a perfect sample meeting agenda. All you are need to do is, download the template and you will get a ready-made, professional meeting agenda format.
You can edit the file, make the changes you want and proceed further with printing or sending the agenda across. Some of these templates are available for free download as well.