Meeting Agenda

Meeting Date: ______Leader: ______Time Keeper: ______Project Name: ______Attendance: ______Location: ______AIM: ______

Objective(s) of the meeting {record additional attendance on opposite side} 1. ______2. ______3. ______

Item Minutes Topic Summary of conclusions, decisions, Allocated Assignments, and next steps Review agenda Add, modify or delete items. Allocate time needed for 1. 2 each item.

1. ______7. 2 Plan next agenda 2. ______3. ______4. ______5. ______

8. 2 Meeting review on content and process

Next Meeting Date: ___/___/______Start Time: ______End Time: ______Location: ______Recorder: ______What is an organized meeting? What type of meetings should have an organized agenda? What are the steps of a meeting agenda? Form for an organized meeting. Ground rules for meetings. Tips for holding meetings.

What is an organized meeting? An organized meeting is explicit about its objectives, the agenda and time allocation. Clarity in organization makes meetings more productive and efficient in several ways.

 Objectives indicate the purpose of the meeting and its priorities.  Objectives inform members on the most important things that they should have by the end of the meeting.  An agenda keeps the meeting on tract.  Time allocation prevents tangential side-discussions not pertinent to the business at hand. Optimal use of personal time is respectful and decreases costs.  A set of ground rules specifies the leadership style and member participation that distinguish the culture of the meeting.

What type of meetings should have an organized agenda?

An organized agenda works well for the following type of meetings:  Quality Improvement Team Meetings  Project team meetings  Task-force meetings  Goal attainment meetings  Meetings with time pressures  Meetings with bounded topics  A series of repetitive meetings with 20 or fewer members.

What are the steps of an organized meeting?

The steps (or process) of an organized meeting are to  assign roles  clarify the objectives  review the agenda  work through the agenda items according to time allocated  summarize the content of the meeting  develop an agenda for the next meeting and  evaluate for content of discussion and the meeting process.

A meeting agenda form. Ground rules for meetings include reaching agreements in the following areas:

 mutual courtesy, respect and attentiveness  tolerance for diversity  openness to all perspectives  balanced participation and opportunity to speak  clear communication  teamwork  promptness and attendance  rotate taking of minutes and time keeping  responsibility for assignments and between-meeting work  everyone is responsible for the mission of the group and the process of the meeting  conflict management and decision making

Tips for holding meetings

 Members should have a sense of responsibility for and stewardship in the mission.  Use the first or second meeting for the group to agree to its set of ground rules. There should be agreement on what team membership will involve and how the team will work together.  Openness of communication is served best with a democratic, as opposed to authoritarian, style of leadership.  Assignments and actions needed should specify who, what and when.  Be clear about the level of commitment required.  The leader and facilitator should reach an agreement on how they will work together.  Have the logistics of the meeting room and materials ready.  When applicable, provide just-in-time learning of quality improvement tools and methods that enable a team to function effectively. Glossary

Organized Meeting Process. The steps of a meeting are to assign roles, clarify the objective, review the agenda, work through the agenda items according to time allocated, summarized the content of the meeting, develop an agenda for the next meeting and evaluate the meeting.

Meeting Leader: The leader plans, coordinates and directs the meeting. The leader’s responsibility is to guide the process to achieve the meeting objectives.

Timekeeper. Manages the time of the meeting by calling out the time remaining on each agenda item and calls for end of discussion or re-allocation when time runs out for an agenda item.

Facilitator. Coaches the team process of a meeting or project and assist the team in quality improvement methods.

Recorder. Records the minutes of the meeting.

Assignments. Tasks assigned as follow-up activities that specify who, what and when.

Topic. The item for discussion including status reports on individual assignments, presentations or activities, discussion of issues, status report of a project, announcements.

Ground rules. A set of guidelines which team members develop and agree on to manage their work together, divide their responsibilities and norm how they will interact with each other. All members are encouraged to intervene in the team process if a ground rule is broken. References

Scholtes PR. The team handbook: How to use teams to improve quality. Joiner Associates: Madison WI, 1994.