How to Write Effective Meeting Agendas

• Professionals spend 2 hours a week in pointless meetings.
• The average professional spends three hours a week in meetings – making two thirds of all meetings unnecessary or a waste of time.
• Unproductive meetings waste more than $37 billion per year.
• Executives view more than 67% of meetings as failures.
• More than a third (37%) of professionals consider unnecessary meetings to be the biggest cost to their organization.
• 65% of 182 senior managers surveyed said meetings keep them from completing their own work. 71% said meetings are unproductive and inefficient. 64% said meetings come at the expense of deep thinking. 62% said meetings miss opportunities to bring the team closer together.

The statistics above are based on surveys conducted by The Muse, Clockwise, and Steven Rogelberg, of the University of North Carolina. They show that most meetings continue to be a barrier to productivity and waste a lot of time and resources.

In "Stop the Meeting Madness," published in the Harvard Business Review, Leslie A. Perlow, Constance Noonan Hadley, and Eunice Eun stress the importance of establishing a clear agenda for all meetings as a way to improve productivity at meetings.

And this is the crux of our article today: How to Write Effective Meeting Agendas.

Start using the Meeting Agenda now or schedule a demo today to learn more.

Agendas are essential to the success of meetings. They provide a framework for discussion and help keep participants focused on the purpose of the meeting. 

What is a meeting agenda?

A meeting agenda is a list of the topics to be discussed at a meeting. It usually includes an outline of the topics to be addressed, time allocations, and any background information needed to understand the topic.

Why is it important to have a meeting agenda?

The purpose of an agenda is to ensure that all participants are clear about what will be discussed at a meeting before it happens so that they can prepare accordingly. An agenda that is well-written can save time and keep discussions on track. 

A good meeting agenda can also help improve overall productivity by helping participants get straight to business instead of wasting time with small talk or other distractions before getting down to business.

What are 5 things that you need to include in your meeting agenda?

1. The purpose of the meeting.
2. The time, date, and location of the meeting.
3. The names of all people who will be in attendance at the meeting.
4.  A list of items to be discussed, along with a time estimate for each item.
5. An idea of what type of decisions to expect from attendees.

Read: How to Set Up Assembly’s Daily Agenda in 5 Easy Steps

How to write an effective meeting agenda

1. Use a template. 
2. Identify your goal.
3. Keep it short.
4. State the purpose.
5. Identify the intended outcomes of the meeting.
6. State who is invited.
7. Establish time limits for each agenda item and overall time frame for the meeting.
8. Prioritize agenda items from most to least important.
9. Outline discussion activities and tasks, so participants know what to expect.
10. Add notes, attachments, or other information needed to prepare for the meeting.

5 Meeting Agenda Examples & Templates 

1. Marketing Team Meeting Agenda

A marketing team meeting agenda should include an overview of the goals of the meeting, as well as any logistical information that will help you get there. These agendas are great for keeping track of what has been discussed in previous meetings, and they can also help you make sure that everyone on your team has access to important information about upcoming projects and responsibilities

Here’s an example:

Date: xx July 2022

Time: 00 - 00

Attendees: @name, @name, @name, @name

Meeting Objective

Develop a strategy for our social media channels for the next quarter

Agenda

• Review the performance of last quarter’s social media campaign - Assigned to @name
• What was our best-performing social media content last quarter? - Assigned to @name
• Present the report on our competitor analysis - Assigned to @name
• Presentation of the new social media strategy - Assigned to @name
• Thoughts on the new social media strategy - Assigned to @name
• General recap 

Next steps

• List next steps
• List next steps
• List next steps

For more tips and direction on hosting effective meetings with your team, check out our Daily/Weekly Agenda Template.

2. Weekly One-on-One Meeting Agenda

A Weekly One-on-One Meeting Agenda is a list of topics to discuss in your weekly one-on-one meetings with your direct reports. It's important to make sure you're on the same page with your team members, sometimes it can be hard to remember what you wanted to talk about or what you talked about last week. 

Date: xx July 2022

Time: 00 - 00

Attendees: @name, @name

Agenda

A few questions you can ask:

• What do you think went well last week, and what didn’t go as planned?
• What's working well for you right now?
• What's not working well for you right now?
• What do you think I could be doing better?
• What do you need from me specifically in order to do your job better?
• Are you happy with your recent work? Why or why not?
• Did we miss anything that you think we should address?

Actions points

• List action points
• List action points
• List action points

For more tips and direction on hosting effective weekly one on one meetings with your direct reports, check out our One on One with Direct Reports Template.

3. Retrospective Meeting Agenda

A retrospective meeting agenda helps to guide the discussion of a team in order to determine how well they are working together and if there are any problems with their process or communication. 

Date: xx July 2022

Time: 00 - 00

Attendees: @name, @name, @name, @name

Agenda

What went well?

• List what worked
• List what worked
• List what worked

What fell short?

• List what didn’t work out
• List what didn’t work out
• List what didn’t work out

What have we learned?

• List lessons
• List lessons
• List lessons

Actions points

• List action points
• List action points
• List action points

By using Assembly's Retrospective Flow, you save yourself hours of work and no project gets left behind in the process. As a team, you can have all your retrospective conversations in one place, collect feedback from everyone involved, and be on top of everything related to your features and releases. Improved communication for all!

4. Project Kickoff Meeting Agenda

A Project Kickoff Meeting Agenda serves as a guide to ensure you have all the necessary information and resources in place before you begin a project. The agenda helps to establish a common understanding between all parties involved in a project, which will help ensure the success of the project.

Date: xx July 2022

Time: 00 - 00

Attendees: @name, @name, @name, @name, @name

Agenda

Introductions:

Let the team meet each other

Project overview:

The project lead summarizes the entire project, goals, deliverables, and timeline.

Project goals/objectives

• List your SMART project goals 
• List your SMART project goals 
• List your SMART project goals 

Project duration:

What is the entire timeline for this project?

Team members/roles and responsibilities:

Assign tasks, roles, and responsibilities to each member. Here are a few examples:

• Project manager
• Research lead
• Client relationship manager
• Design lead
• Software Development lead
• Marketing Manager
• Resource Manager
• Stakeholder Management

Deadlines and milestones:

To ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page, the team needs to agree on a timeline and schedule.

Project deliverables:

Define the final outputs of your project. These are the “things” that the client or the team will be getting on completing the project. The project deliverables should be well-thought-out and well-defined.

Project bottlenecks to anticipate:

It's important to anticipate where the bottlenecks will be so you can keep them in check and get your project done on time. Here are some common issues that can slow down a project:

• Lack of communication between team members
• Lack of resources or support from management
• Unclear goals or objectives

Next steps

• List next steps
• List next steps
• List next steps

The traditional project kickoff meeting is usually frustrating. It's a means to an end with no real direction or purpose. Use Assembly's Project Kickoff flow instead to source ideas, perspective, context, and requirements from all of the key stakeholders in a new project.

5. Daily Standup Meeting Agenda

The daily standup meeting agenda is one of the most important parts of your company's culture. It sets the tone for the day, and it gives you, your team, and your colleagues all a chance to stay on track with what's coming up and how things are going.

Date: xx July 2022

Time: 00 - 00

Attendees: @name, @name, @name

Agenda

What did you do yesterday?

Answer.

What will you do today?

Answer.

What blockers stand in your way?

Answer.

Start using the Daily Standup now or schedule a demo today to learn more.

Crafting The Perfect Meeting Agenda

Meeting agendas, like all other forms of communication, can have a tremendous impact on the success of the meeting itself. By thinking about the meeting's purpose, participants, and specifics ahead of time, you can craft an agenda that increases the chances for a fruitful discussion. 

All the tools and resources you need to host effective meetings, launch projects, and gather feedback—all in one place with Assembly. Book a demo to learn more.