USING AN AGENDA
Those of you with long memories may remember that I wrote an article about using agendas about eight years ago. I mentioned how often I have been in meetings that seemed to run on way too long, didn’t accomplish anything, or worse yet when all was said and done it wasn’t even clear just what the purpose of the meeting was. I am sorry to say that the problem still exists. The fact is an agenda is such a simple but powerful tool that everyone can use. Perhaps by revisiting this subject a few more meetings will be run more effectively.
A good agenda has several key elements and looks something like this.
Agenda
for
Facilities Task Force
Meeting # 8
7 - 9 pm, Cottage, July 31, 2009
Purpose: To maintain and upgrade the church facilities
Warmup All
Agenda Review All
Subject 1 Jon
Subject 2 All
Subject 3 Len/All
Subject 4 Mari
Assignments All
Next meeting date, agenda All
Meeting evaluation Plus/Delta All
Below I have inserted comments within the document to explain use and reasons.
Agenda
For
Facilities Task Force
Meeting # 8
Keeping track of the number of meetings a group has had reinforces the time everyone has invested and the need to bring closure.
7 - 9 pm, Cottage, July 31, 2009
Listing the time and place reminds people of these details and may save confusion. Showing the beginning and expected ending time of the meeting helps keep the meeting length under control.
It is good for meeting participants to receive a copy of the agenda several days to a week before the meeting. This will remind them of the meeting as well as assignments they committed to.
Purpose: To maintain and upgrade the church facilities
It is vital to keep in front of everyone the mission of the group or the purpose for the particular meeting.
Warmup
All
I always find it helpful to have a warmup or icebreaker at the beginning of the meeting. Everyone is coming to the meeting from a different situation. Taking a minute or two on a common subject gets everyone focused. Generally I ask something as trivial as, “What is you favorite food?” or “What is your favorite color or ice cream flavor?” If your meeting has very serious overtones or you expect it to be contentious, consider having the participants do the following. Choose an object that has some significance to the group – maybe a company coffee mug. Pass the item to the first person and say; “State what is on your mind right now. Be brief and speak from the heart. When you are finished say, I’m in and pass the object to the next person.” The next person then does the same until everyone has had a chance to check in. At the end of the meeting, again pass the object and have individuals say what is on their minds right now, followed by “I’m out.” This is a powerful technique, and the implication is that we are a team. We care about each other, and we are going to positively contribute to the meeting and its purpose.
Agenda Review All
The primary purpose of the agenda review is to see if there are items that need to be added to the agenda or items that can be removed.
Subject 1 Jon
Subject 2 All
Subject 3
Len/All
Note that the person who is to report or take the lead on the agenda item is listed by name. If everyone is to participate, list All. If there is a lead person but everyone is to participate, list the person’s name/All.
Subject 4 Mari
Generally the biggest problem I have with meeting agendas is trying to cover too much material in too little time. Unfortunately I have no solution for this problem other than to say you need to guard against trying to pack too much into any meeting. Some meeting facilitators suggest listing time allowed for each agenda item and appointing a timekeeper to monitor progress of time usage. I find this too stressful and disruptive.
Assignments All
Almost always there is a need to take action as a result of meeting discussion. It is important to establish who has responsibility for what. Otherwise too often nothing gets done between meetings. This is also a convenient way to summarize what went on in the meeting.
Next meeting date, agenda All
These are very important elements of any series of on going meetings. We all know how difficult and time consuming it is to check everyone’s calendar and find a date that everyone is available. So do it at the meeting.
It is very important to establish the agenda for the next meeting while everyone is together and focused on the purpose of meeting in the first place. The agenda can always be modified, but it is efficient to get the group’s consensus on what will be covered at the next meeting and the need for another meeting.
Meeting evaluation
Plus/Delta All
At the end of the meeting I use a little quality improvement tool called Plus/Delta. Simply ask everyone what was good about the meeting. List these ideas vertically on the left hand half of a flip chart page. Then ask, “What could we change about our meeting so the next one will be better?” List these items on the right side of the page. Take the initiative to decide how you, as a group, will in fact make these changes happen by or in the next scheduled meeting.
In the eight years since I first wrote about agendas, I am even more convinced how important they are. Using a good agenda, well, can make all the difference in the success of a group! If you are not used to using an agenda, give it a try. If you already use an agenda, maybe you can use some of the ideas presented above to enhance what you are already doing.