How do you prepare agendas for your meetings? For most, it is extempore! For some, an hour before the meeting is agenda time. But the best way to make an agenda for your meeting is to treat it like a running list.
A running list is a list in which new items get added as and when they occur to you. You should maintain a running list agenda for each of your stakeholders, say, your boss, key team members, clients, contractors, CA, doctor, and other professionals. You don’t need a lot of work to set it up. You should create a document or a spreadsheet where you would earmark places for each of those with whom you have frequent and important meetings and keep it at a known place that is easily accessible. Whenever you think of a topic to be discussed with someone, instead of relying on your memory, which often fails you, you would record it in your Agendas book.
A comprehensive and complete agenda will ensure that every meeting of yours is productive. People will like to work with you because of the precision with which you bring in all the points for the discussion. Another important advantage of maintaining such agendas is that you are ever ready for any meeting, even at a short notice. Think of an elevator chat with your CEO!
Also, never hesitate to pull out your agenda at the meeting if it was not already shared for common consumption, again to not rely on memory for important things.
(featured image: Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels)
