Meeting & Agenda (Part 4)

Synopsis

Do you feel a lack of control over how much time you spend in meetings? Avoid dragged-out meetings with better tools to prepare, lead, and follow up after your team's next meeting. Download our latest Meeting & Agenda (Part 4) template collection to sync your team members and increase overall work efficiency.

The template includes tools like operational cadence, meeting checklists, session minutes, meeting feedback, meeting dashboards, stakeholder overviews, presenter schedule, team brainstorming sheets, meeting follow-up instructions and meeting criteria breakdown. Plus, watch the full explainer video to learn how much time we spent in meetings in 2021 and Microsoft's breakdown of the ideal meeting length.

Questions and answers

How does the meeting criteria breakdown tool help in conducting effective meetings?

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The meeting criteria breakdown tool aids in conducting effective meetings by providing a structured approach to evaluate the necessity and effectiveness of a meeting. It helps in identifying the purpose, objectives, and expected outcomes of the meeting, ensuring that the meeting is necessary and will be productive. It also assists in determining the appropriate participants, duration, and format of the meeting. This tool can also be used to evaluate the meeting's success post-session, providing insights for improvement in future meetings.

What are the meeting follow-up instructions in the Meeting & Agenda template?

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The meeting follow-up instructions in the Meeting & Agenda template are not explicitly detailed in the content provided. However, typically, such instructions would include steps like reviewing and finalizing the meeting minutes, assigning and tracking the progress of action items, scheduling follow-up meetings if necessary, and communicating the decisions and action items to all relevant stakeholders.

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Operational cadence

Meeting cadence is the pace, number, and pace of meetings across your organization. This Operational cadence slide provides a high-level summary of your team's meeting cadence. It outlines a full year's worth of meetings at a glance, with color-coded dots to determine whether the meeting will be a one-on-one, goal review, performance review or career conversation. Most useful for managers, this visualization can be used to schedule reviews and track meetings with individual team members on a consistent basis.

Questions and answers

How can a well-structured meeting and agenda contribute to the team's productivity?

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A well-structured meeting and agenda can significantly contribute to a team's productivity by ensuring clear communication and efficient use of time. It helps in setting clear expectations for what needs to be discussed and decided in the meeting, thus avoiding unnecessary discussions and digressions. It also ensures that all important points are covered and nothing important is missed out. Moreover, a well-structured agenda helps in keeping the meeting focused and on track, thus saving time and increasing efficiency. It also helps in preparing the participants for the meeting, as they know what to expect and can come prepared.

Can you explain how to use the Operational cadence slide for different types of meetings such as one-on-one, goal review, performance review, or career conversation?

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The Operational cadence slide is a tool that helps manage and visualize the schedule of different types of meetings throughout the year. It uses color-coded dots to distinguish between different types of meetings such as one-on-one, goal review, performance review, or career conversation. To use it, you would assign a color to each type of meeting and mark the dates on the slide accordingly. This allows you to see at a glance when each type of meeting is scheduled. It's particularly useful for managers to schedule reviews and track meetings with individual team members on a consistent basis.

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For instance, execs can track quarterly reviews, plan performance reviews for every six months, or even plan out raises, promotions, or role change conversations well in advance. These meetings can be one-on-ones between managers and associates or skip-level meetings where an associate meets with a director or executive above their immediate manager. (Slide 27)

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Meeting checklist

A meeting checklist tool is helpful for both those who organize meetings and attendees who want to prepare for a meeting ahead of time. This checklist visualization covers what execs need to prepare for ahead of a meeting, to plan for during the meeting, and to follow up on after a meeting so that each meeting is productive and short.

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What are some important tasks that should be included in a meeting checklist?

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Some important tasks that should be included in a meeting checklist are:

1. Setting the meeting's objective: This is the main reason why the meeting is being held. It should be clear and concise.

2. Preparing the agenda: This includes all the topics that will be discussed during the meeting.

3. Inviting the participants: Ensure that all necessary stakeholders are invited and informed about the meeting.

4. Preparing and distributing materials: If there are any documents or materials needed for the meeting, they should be prepared and distributed in advance.

5. Setting up the meeting space: This includes ensuring that the meeting room is available and properly set up.

6. Following up after the meeting: This includes sending out meeting minutes and following up on action items.

How can a checklist be used to set expectations for a meeting?

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A checklist can be used to set expectations for a meeting by outlining the key points and tasks that will be covered during the meeting. It serves as a guide for the meeting lead to ensure all important topics are addressed. Additionally, sharing the checklist with team members prior to the meeting can help them understand what will be discussed, allowing them to prepare accordingly. This can lead to more efficient and productive meetings.

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If you're the meeting lead, you can use this list to hold yourself accountable to your plan while the meeting is ongoing. You can also share it with other team members to set expectations for what the meeting will include. This checklist is customizable to be edited for whatever tasks are most important for you to check off. (Slide 3)

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Session minutes

As you conduct your meetings, it's helpful to take notes and detail what each meeting will cover with session minutes. This session minutes slide breaks down an agenda into different time segments that are united by various session goals. Session minutes can be used to set objectives for a meeting and record decisions for follow-up actions.

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A color-coded flag system allows execs to indicate whether a particular session will be remote only, remote and offline, or completely offline. This is helpful for post-pandemic meeting plans since workplace structures have changed and many meetings these days are virtual. (Slide 12)

Meeting feedback

After you conclude a meeting, it's vital to follow up on any decisions made to ensure the meeting's conclusions lead to action. If you plan to revisit the topic for another session, or plan to run a workshop, training program, or even a convention, you will want to poll your attendee's and gather their thoughts with a feedback form. The meeting planners are responsible to fill out the questions, while attendees fill out the form and move the checkmarks to rate each question from poor to great. (Slide 21)

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Meeting dashboard

Lastly, a meeting dashboard can help execs keep track of all their upcoming meetings at a weekly, daily, and monthly view all at once. This visualization provides a calendar to detail where you are in the year. An overview at the top provides how many meetings are scheduled, rescheduled, or canceled at a glance. In the today section, you can track what meetings you have upcoming, the times for each, and the members attending. And a reminder section in the bottom left can be used to jot notes. (Slide 30)

Questions and answers

What are the practical applications of the Meeting & Agenda collection in a specific industry?

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The practical applications of the Meeting & Agenda collection in a specific industry can vary based on the industry's needs. However, generally, it can be used to prepare for meetings, lead them effectively, and follow up after them. It can help in creating stakeholder overviews, presenter schedules, team brainstorming sheets, meeting follow-up instructions, and meeting criteria breakdowns. This can save time and increase work efficiency. It can also be used to sync team members and ensure everyone is on the same page.

What are the main components of the Meeting & Agenda collection?

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The main components of the Meeting & Agenda collection include stakeholder overviews, presenter schedules, team brainstorming sheets, meeting follow-up instructions, and meeting criteria breakdowns. These tools are designed to help prepare, lead, and follow up after meetings, thereby increasing overall work efficiency.

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Case study: Microsoft

These tools help you better prepare ahead of a meeting to spend less time in them. This is important, as Microsoft found that the average number of meetings increased in 2021. In a survey of 30,000 workers, Microsoft found the time spent in Microsoft teams increased by 2.5x around the world, and the average meeting is now 10 minutes longer, with 45% more chats per week and 42% more chats per hour. This extra time has led to "overwork" feelings and burnout. Microsoft also found that fatigue sets in after 30 to 40 minutes of concentration. That's why the company recommends to cap meetings at 25 minutes or at most 50 minutes with a 5-minute break in the middle to give brains time to recharge.

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Conclusion

If 25 minutes feels too short to you, you need better preparation. Download this Meeting & Agenda (Part 4) collection for more slides on stakeholder overviews, presenter schedules, team brainstorming sheets, meeting follow-up instructions and meeting criteria breakdowns to save time and hours of work. Plus, you can download our earlier Meeting & Agenda (Part 2) and Meetings & Agendas (Part 3) frameworks for more slides.

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