Don’t have an agenda, have a purpose

So you’re about to setup up a meeting.

Stop right there! Have you checked whether you actually need a meeting? Many don’t, but let’s assume you did.

Now, your meeting — what’s it about?

No, don’t tell me the agenda. That’s just a shopping list of topics. As Kristoffer growls, “An agenda without a purpose is like a map without a direction — it won’t get you where you want to go!”

You need a purpose.

Luckily, your purpose is often easy to identify. You need to solve a problem. Why else meet?

But problems come in many shapes and sizes.

What, exactly, is the issue. Got that — good! Now, what outcome do you need from the meeting?

Could be buy-in, a way forward, education — lots of stuff.

But you need to know what. Otherwise you’re not having a meeting, you’re having a chat. Be specific.

So now you know the purpose — what the problem is and what outcome you need.

Great! Now you don’t really need an agenda, do you? But, wait — there’s one more thing.

That meeting you’re about to set up — will it actually get you the outcome you need?

Does it have the right people? Have you picked the right approach? Do you even need that meeting, or can you just pick up the phone?