The Meeting Agenda

Normally managers put an emphasis on having a written meeting agenda prior to a meeting.

Research shows that having an agenda is of no relevance, and what's important is how the leader facilitates the discussion of the agenda. Instead of reading like a to-do list, a meeting agenda can have questions that can move forward a productive discussion.

By having a question-based approach as opposed to topics, participants begin to think and act differently, marching towards the true intent of the being together, with intention.

Agenda questions can be molded to be like goals for the employees, to get them on their feet, energizing them and focusing their attention.

Group goals promote group performance, and specific goals are much better than vague goals. The meeting questions, formed as goals, need to be challenging but not outlandish.

Instead of having too many questions, the meeting leader can first float a few questions and ask for the attendees' input. This ensures collaboration and makes attendees feel listened to, making them more engaged in the meeting.

After their input, each question is then scrutinized and ones that don't fit are dropped if necessary. The final list would then have questions that are relevant and of strategic importance.

The questions on top of the list receive a disproportionate amount of attention and time. The key questions, which are a high priority need to be at the top.

One can also make the attendees who own the question speak it out in the meeting themselves, demonstrating ownership and inclusion.

Once the set of questions are finalized, the meeting leader can distribute the agenda in advance, a few days in advance. There are many approaches to execute the question-based meeting, some of them are:

• Brainstorming.
• Voting Apps.
• Pairing attendees for an agenda point.
• Role-playing.
• Deliberation and Decision.

A question-based approach to agendas brings focus, engagement and better performance to meetings.