The meeting is not the cheapest, but the best way to understand a staff or a technical problem is to talk it over with the right people.
Key Components of an Effective Meeting Agenda
The agenda meeting allows you to conduct remote online meetings, in which participants, working with the event interface, have the opportunity to interact with each other using video images, text messages, as well as other tools that allow you to collectively work on documents and other presentation materials. There are several areas and elements that can be optimized for an effective meeting agenda.
1. Agenda overview.
Once everything is settled, take the time to go over all of the agenda items before diving into each one. This gives a good start to the meeting by giving everyone a clear idea of what will be discussed and the opportunity to add to the agenda if needed.
2. Statement of results.
By clearly defining the purpose of each agenda item, you create focus. Everyone knows the purpose or “why” of the tasks, and the discussion becomes more focused.
3. Addressing time limits.
Setting the actual time limit for a conversation on each agenda item will ensure that each issue is addressed by the end of the meeting.
- Use questions to ease the approach to problem-solving.
- Make it fast and easy to read.
Don’t drag out the agenda. By sticking to their agenda as planned, people can quickly scan and understand what they should be ready to talk about.
Why Is It Important to Make a Meeting Agenda?
It is very important to make a meeting agenda considering the next principles:
- You cannot observe everything. What you must watch out for is the staff. People need to know that you will not tolerate bad work.
- There are enough people who are more interested in the process of work than in its results, as old managers often believe. It seems to the latter that the new generation is more interested in the form than in its content. The main question is, are these old managers right, or are they just old? Consider both possibilities.
- Some workers are workaholics in their work – if they move in the wrong direction, they can cause harm in a short time. They can be overloaded, which can lead to their premature combustion, and it is difficult to determine to what extent their load was created by themselves. It is important to make sure that such people have enough free time and that their overload does not exceed a quarter or half, which is perfectly normal.
- Always try to discuss internal support at the lowest level. You need the support of the people doing the direct work, and the best way to get it is through discussions.
- Staff time is very important. You need to be considerate as a manager who understands the value of other people and values their time (that is, the assigned work and the meetings organized should be really necessary). Where possible, you should protect staff from unnecessary work (for example, some requests can be ignored or their initiator can be denied).
- It rarely happens that only one person can do the job. This is the case in the fields of technology, for which the role of a high level of qualifications and skills is relatively large. Take care of such specialists, but try to get their work completed as soon as possible. It can take two to three times longer to get the job done by inappropriate people.