What is a Meeting Agenda?

Agenda Time Slots

In order to have effective meetings it is essential to inform the meeting attendees about the purpose of the meeting, so that they can prepare actively for it. The Agenda is the outline of the topics that need to be addressed during the meeting. This web site is intended to help you create better agendas.

Agenda Formats and Samples

An agenda is often just a simple outline of the topics to be discussed, with their start and end time and the name of the person presenting each topic. Here is an example of a typical meeting agenda structure:

If you are looking for specific agenda templates here are some samples:

Schedule something at a time slot or schedule something to a time slot Stack Exchange Network Stack Exchange network consists of 176 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. The agenda of such meetings is aimed at long term goal accomplishments. Senior management meetings also focus on problems and dynamic changes that a business has to undergo over time. Managers can ease their agenda making process with the use of senior management meeting agenda templates. Management Department Meeting Agenda Example. An agenda format is also available for specific events, including multi-day conferences, PTA meetings, and team share-outs. Explore the wide variety of free agenda templates, including the classic meeting agenda template in Word and the flexible agenda in Excel. You’ll find an agenda format that will help you keep your meeting on track and on.

To make is easier for you to create an agenda here are a couple of Microsoft Word Agenda templates to download:

Agenda Tips

• Review previous meeting agendas for ideas and formats
• Collect suggestions for agenda topics from meeting attendees
• Transfer unfinished topics from prior meetings
• Make sure to include or consider breaks
• Confirm with presenters what and when they will be presenting
• Prepare and distribute the agenda prior to the meeting
• Delegate pre-meeting tasks to help attendees prepare
• Make sure to indicate which attendees are required
• Consider using Agenda Software to create your agendas

Agenda Software

If you are trying to optimize and streamline your meetings you could consider using an Agenda Software application (also referred to as Meeting Management software). Here is a review of Agenda Software applications.

See here how to make an agenda using MeetingBooster:

A meeting agenda is a vital element of a meeting and must be carefully prepared beforehand. It contains the topics for discussion during for the upcoming meeting. Having a clear agenda helps the participants to prepare for it. For more information about preparing a meeting agenda, please read this article.

An equally important element in the conduct of a meeting is the minutes of the meeting. The minutes form a written record of everything that was discussed during the meeting. A helpful article on preparing minutes of the meeting can be found here.

• How to Write Agendas for 8 Types of Meetings: The Complete ListPart 1
• General Meeting Agenda TemplatesPart 2
• How to Make Meeting Agendas 10x EasierPart 3
• How to Spend Less Time on Meetings?Part 4
• Additional SourcesPart 5

part 1

Now, let’s look at the different types of meetings being conducted and their agendas (click a link to open a relevant article, each article contains free agenda templates for a particular type of meeting):

1. A project meeting is held on a periodic basis to monitor project development and discuss all issues which need to be addressed.Here’s a link to our article about project meetings + free agenda templates.
2. A staff meeting provides an opportunity for the staff of a unit in an organization to sit down together and discuss matters of mutual concerns.Learn more about staff meetings + free templates here.Meanwhile, there is one more article here which can serve as a reference in preparing a meeting agenda + free downloads.
3. The one-on-one meeting is a meeting between a supervisor and his direct report. The purpose of a one-on-one meeting is to evaluate how the staff member is doing and to resolve any issues related to the performance of their work.Our article here discusses how to conduct a one-on-one meeting + agenda templates.
4. A daily huddle is a brief meeting conducted before the start of a workday or a shift where the team leader or supervisor outlines the tasks for the day, ongoing promotions, and all other important matters that the staff members need to know in relation to their jobs and organization.Read more about the daily huddle here (includes free agenda templates).
5. A team meeting is conducted between team members to resolve issues affecting their work and to update them with the latest information related to the project.Our article about team meetings will help you effectively conduct a team meeting and contains free templates.
6. A sales meeting is carried out to enhance communication within the sales team. Aside from monitoring the performance of the team and its members, it is also a venue to motivate team members, coach them, and to acknowledge their efforts.More tips on conducting sales meetings with agenda template can be found in this article.
7. A leadership meeting is for the top officials of an organization. This is where they usually discuss important issues, business strategies, and other ways to improve the performance of the organization.Details about leadership meeting with free agenda samples can be found in this article.
8. A status meeting is where the project team discusses the status of a project, and this is where they keep track of the issues and risks facing the project.Check the article here to learn more about status meetings and download free templates.

Meetings are often held periodically. Weekly meetings are brief and are conducted to address recurring problems, while monthly meetings focus on monitoring performance targets.

More details on a weekly meeting (with sample agendas) are here as well as a monthly meeting (with sample agendas).
Part 2

General Meeting Agenda Templates: Free Download

If you just need a general-purpose meeting agenda sample check these free downloads.
Read the best practices here on how to write a meeting agenda in general.

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Templates on ProsperForms:

Part 3

How to Make Meeting Agendas and Minutes 10x Easier

How to configure online meeting agendas and/or meeting minutes on ProsperForms:

Step 1: Create a “Meeting Agenda” or “Meeting Minutes” applet.

Step 2: Users will click the “Open Submission Form” button to fill it in and submit it.
Participants can comment on a meeting agenda in its comments section, which ensures the right context for discussion and further reference.

Info such as the date and the name of the person will be added automatically.

Step 3 (Optional): Print it.
(Skip this step if you share meeting agendas and minutes online and don’t print them.)

Benefits:

1. Make meeting agendas and minutes instantly available to the meeting participants.
2. Save time with auto completion:
   Fields such as date, name, formatting, etc. are inserted automatically by software.
3. For regular meetings:
   Configure recurrence and assign people who will receive automatic reminders to create and share upcoming meeting agendas and/or minutes.
4. For irregular meetings:
   Start your agenda with info about the meeting date, time and place and this will work as mass-notification: ProsperForms will automatically send emails to all participants as soon as you submit it.
5. Improve meeting agendas with the option to gather info for the upcoming meeting agenda from participants.
6. Easy sharing:
   Meeting agendas and minutes can be either
   — exported to files and printed;
   — shared online with selected people (in this case, an email with the full text of the meeting agenda will be sent automatically to those with “View” permission); or
   — shared online team-wide (the latest meeting agenda will be available online and a notification email will be sent automatically to each team member).

Agenda With Time Slots Template

Part 4

How to Spend Less Time on Meetings?

How to use ProsperForms for status reports:

1. Peace of mind: No one forgets to fill in their status reports because ProsperForms automatically sends timely reminders according to the recurrence schedule you chose.
2. Increase workplace satisfaction by improving transparency:
   Each status update has a separate section for comments, which is used by team members to clarify information, including upcoming goals, and by leaders to provide feedback and coordinate better without micromanagement.
3. Use status reports for future reference and decrease time and efforts spent on monthly, quarterly, and yearly reporting thanks to powerful filtering and export features.
4. Spend less time on meetings by making them more productive because everyone is on the same page at all times.

How to configure status reports on ProsperForms:

Step 1:

• Create a “Status Report” applet.
• Setup reminders if you want your team members to receive automatic reminders when their reports are due.
• Configure who will submit reports by choosing the “Participants” tab.

Step 2: Users will click the “Open Submission Form” button to fill in and submit the report.

Data such as the report type, date and name will be added automatically.

As soon as a new status report is added, participants with “View” rights can view it in real time.

Step 3 (Optional): Generate a report and export it to PDF.
(Skip this step if you share status reports online and don’t print them.)

Click “Generate Report”.

Part 5

Additional Sources