Have you ever been in a meeting and thought to yourself, “This could have been sent in an email” or “Ugh, I have so much work to do, and we are wasting time here!” I have, and there is nothing more annoying than getting off topic and going down the endless rabbit hole of conversations. Coming from the corporate world myself, I get it. As a manager, you are required to have meetings with your team, and it’s so easy to get distracted when Chatty Cathy puts her two cents in. Having a meeting agenda can change that! Today I am sharing with you how a meeting agenda will save you time!

Meeting Agendas Cut Down on Chatter

When you walk into a conference room and you are given an itinerary or agenda, you can pretty much gauge how long the meeting will be. By printing off and handing out a list of bullet points you will cover during the meeting, it gives the employees a heads-up on when their questions or comments might be appropriate. Also, make sure in your opening comments you say something along the lines of, “I know everyone is super busy today, so I’m just going to go straight down the list quickly so we can all get back to work.” This statement lets the attendees know you aren’t here for small-talk and you plan on making this quick.

You Aren’t the Bad Guy

By preparing and having a meeting agenda, not only are you telling the attendees that you mean business but also that you are not the bad guy. You only have 30-minutes to discuss everything on the meeting agenda, and if someone begins to wander off, you can kindly guide them back to it. You could say something like, “That is a great thought, and I would love to set up a time to discuss that more with you but for now we need to stick to the agenda so that we can cover everything within our time frame.” You aren’t ignoring the thought or idea of the employee, but you are gently reminding them that there are clearly defined things that need to be covered first.

Guaranteed Way to Cover Topics

It has happened to me, and I’m sure it has happened to you: You go into a meeting to discuss something, and you have multiple points to make, but you can’t remember them all, or you didn’t clearly get your idea across. By having a meeting agenda, you will know exactly what you need to say, and you will have a much more organized and prepared thought process. Don’t let the cat get your tongue and waste valuable time you have with your team! Come prepared with notes, directions, and answers to questions that might arise.

All-in-all, there is bound to be someone on your team which requires a little more stroking than others and having a meeting agenda will help to refocus them. A meeting agenda will save you time, cut down on unnecessary chatter, and guarantees that you will get your points across clearly. Even if you are having a short stand-up meeting, have a meeting agenda. Don’t let that quick 10-minute stand up meeting turn into a 45-minute discussion!

If you feel like you can’t clearly put your thoughts down on paper and prepare a meeting agenda, I can help you. I specialize in productivity and how to utilize not only your time but your team’s time wisely. Contact me today and let’s see how we can get you back to work and out of those never ending team meetings.