Lesson Progress
0% Complete
The agenda is often the first communication that participants will get about a forthcoming meeting. Consequently, it is important that the agenda specifies clearly the purpose and format of the meeting, as well as the objectives of the meeting and logistical information relating to the meeting.
At a minimum, the agenda must specify the following elements:
| Element | Description |
| Purpose/Objective. | The reason for holding the meeting. Allows common focus on content and helps eliminate confusion on objectives and expectations. |
| Meeting format / style. | Workshop, teleconference, video conference, interview, etc. |
| Date. | When the meeting is scheduled. |
| Start Time. | When the meeting begins. |
| End Time. | When the meeting ends. Duration will highlight in advance of the meeting if the agenda is overly ambitious in the amount of detail to be covered in the allotted time. |
| Called By. | The individual who is chairing the meeting and should establish who has authority to make final decisions. |
| Phone and e-mail. | Provide information that allows attendees to contact the individual who called the meeting. |
| Required Preparation. | Define any preparatory work that you would expect the attendees to have completed before attending. For example, a review meeting would require the attendees to have read and made notes regarding the material in advance of the meeting. |
| Attendees. | Listing of invited participants. |
| Also Distributed to. | Listing of individuals who are advised of but will not participate. |
| Topic. | Listing of the areas/ issues to be discussed. The desired outcome or result for each issue may also be stated. |
| Discussion Lead. | The individual who guides the topic discussion.A facilitator should be used when the Chairperson will be an active meeting participant, when the number of meeting attendees include more than six people, when the meeting attendees represent a diverse group (e.g. multi-disciplined, culturally diverse etc.). |
| Duration. | The amount of time, usually in minutes, that is allotted to each discussion topic. |