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Plan an Agenda: Make the Most of Your
Meetings
Whether you are a stay-at-home-mother or a corporate worker,
you will likely have your share of meetings this year. A mother
may need to organize meetings for the local church food drive
or for the school PTA, while a corporate worker may be planning
meetings with important clients. The point is that no matter
who you are, you should always know how to organize a great
meeting. The first step, after scheduling a time, date, and
location, in organizing a meeting is planning the agenda.
Agenda planning is a step that you simply cannot skip when it
comes to a successful meeting. If you are unsure how to plan an
agenda, use these steps to get you started.
Style
The general style for an agenda is an outline form. This will
allow you to document the main issues with just a few words.
For example, if you are planning to discuss the pizza
fundraiser, you would only need to add "Pizza Fundraiser" to
the agenda. There would be no need to go into any further
detail about the fundraiser. Those who attend the meeting will
be able to hear the details directly from you or the speaker
and will be able to take their own notes. Being concise will
help you create your agenda in very little time. This is the
standard format, so don't be afraid you are being too
vague.
Information
Choosing what information should go onto the agenda can be
tricky. If the meeting is a recurring event, then you probably
want to begin by adding a section devoted to recapping what
happened at the last meeting. For instance, if your meeting
occurs every month, write a "Last Month's Recap" section and
spend just a few moments going over what was accomplished. Then
you can proceed to current sections. Add each main point that
you plan on discussing. If there are formal activities that
must be done, such as voting on issues, be sure to add that as
a bullet on your agenda. Adding the names and introductions of
guest speakers is great as well. This will allow everyone to
get the proper spelling of the guest's name. When you are
adding information to the agenda, keep in mind your meeting's
time frame. Do not add a bundle of information that you will
not likely get around to discussing. If you are heading the
meeting, do not be afraid to say "We must move on from this
issue right now", if you are going over on one
issue.
Closing
Adding a small closing to the agenda is the perfect way to end
your memo. You can add a little section with notes about what
will be discussed at the next meeting. Adding the date, time,
and location of upcoming events is also a great idea. You can
also add a little "thank you" section to those who participated
or headed certain tasks throughout the month. If you are having
a corporate meeting, you can also add goals or deadlines that
everyone should be aware of. It is up to you on what to add to
the closing section.
Contact Information
It is important for you to include any important contact
information the members of the meeting might need on the
agenda. Many times the agenda is something that members of the
meeting will keep and utilize in the future. Therefore, any
important contact information of clients, directors, and other
members should be included somewhere on the agenda. This is a
great organizational tip and will help avoid questions later
regarding this information.
If you are in charge of an upcoming meeting, you should not
avoid planning an agenda. An agenda will help you stay on
track, especially if you are nervous about the meeting. It will
also give the members of the meeting a chance to stay focused
on the information being presented. They will have an outline
to add notes to and something to refer back to after the
meeting is over. If you want to hold a professional meeting,
you must never do so without an agenda. So go ahead and create
one. It only takes a few moments and will help you greatly.
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