You’ve probably heard this meeting advice before: Set an agenda and send it out ahead of time. But if the purpose of your meeting is to tackle a complicated problem, it’s better to have the group decide on the agenda together. Plan to spend 10%–15% of your meeting time to get the agenda right: a half hour for a half-day meeting, a couple of hours for a two-day meeting.
Start with individual brainstorming so that people can form opinions on what the group should cover. Then have them anonymously post their ideas on sticky notes for others to see. Next, everyone should identify themes and cluster similar ideas together. Once you have a good list of possible topics, ask the group to make final decisions about what should be on the agenda.
This process can be time-consuming, but going through it together will ensure that participants are engaged and feel ownership over the process — and the outcome.
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This tip is adapted from “Don’t Set an Agenda Before Important Meetings,” by David Komlos and David Benjamin