An agenda is a list of meeting activities in the order in which they are to be taken up, beginning with the

call to order and ending with adjournment. It usually includes one or more specific items of business to be
considered. It may, but is not required to, include specific times for one or more activities. An agenda may
also be called a docket.

Although agenda is strictly speaking a plural noun meaning "things to be done," the singular form
agendum is no longer used; agenda is used in the singular as if it were "a list of things to be done," with a
plural form agendas: The agenda for tomorrow's meeting has been changed. This item has appeared on
a number of previous agendas. The use of agenda as a verb meaning "to put an item on an agenda" (We
will agenda that for the next meeting) is criticized and is better avoided.

In business meetings of deliberative bodies, the agenda may also be known as the orders of the day.
The agenda is usually distributed to a meeting's participants prior to the meeting, so that they will be
aware of the subjects to be discussed, and are able to prepare for the meeting accordingly.

In parliamentary procedure, an agenda is not binding upon an assembly unless its own rules make it so,
or unless it has been adopted as the agenda for the meeting by majority vote at the start of the meeting.
Otherwise, it is merely for the guidance of the chair.

If an agenda is binding upon an assembly, and a specific time is listed for an item, that item cannot be
taken up before that time, and must be taken up when that time arrives even if other business is pending.
If it is desired to do otherwise, the rules can be suspended for that purpose.

The agenda is usually headed with the date, time and location of the meeting, followed by a
series of points outlining the order of the meeting.

Points on a typical agenda may include:

 Welcome/open meeting

 Support for absence

 Approve minutes of the previous meeting

 Matters arising from the previous meeting

 A list of specific points to be discussed — this section is where the bulk of the discussion
as well as decisions in the meeting usually takes place

 Any other business (AOB) — allowing a participant to raise another point for discussion.

 Arrange/announce details of next meeting

 Tea and biscuits

 Close meeting
A good meeting agenda will serve as a guide to participants, making the meeting more efficient and productive

An effective meeting agenda, which states what activities will take place during the meeting, serves various important
functions:

 It forces the meeting leader or group to think out what needs to be accomplished

 Provided ahead of time (as it should be), the agenda lets people know what to expect and allows them to
prepare as necessary

 It provides a blueprint or path for the meeting to follow

 It reminds people of what there is left to cover if time gets to be an issue

The header is particularly useful if participants belong to various groups/organizations, or if the agenda will be made
public record:

 Organization Name

 Group Meeting Agenda

 Location

 Date

 Starting and Ending Time

The body of the agenda lists the actual items to be covered during the meeting. When possible, use actionable
words such as approve, discuss, adopt, announce to let participants know what is expected of them. At the end of
each item is a suggested time allotted (adding up to an hour and a half long meeting), but in reality time allotted will
depend on your group’s particular circumstances.

 Welcome/Introductions/Warm-Up Activity – Doing one of these is particularly helpful for groups that don’t
get together often. It is also a good way of getting the meeting started while not making late-comers miss anything
substantive. (10 min)

 Approve/adopt previous meeting minutes – Obviously, only necessary if minutes are kept. (5 min)

 Discuss the topics at hand. This will usually be broken up into several parts, and will take up the bulk of the
meeting. This is where you would include items like “Review annual budget” or “Brainstorm fundraising ideas” or
“Hear report from Finance Committee”. (60 min total)
 Announcements – This is often kept to the end of the meeting, but because new information can sometimes
change the focus of a meeting, it may be useful to have announcements early on. (10 min)

 Decide on time and agenda for next meeting. (5 min).

a good meeting agenda is short and simple

The Agenda

communicates important information such as:

1. topics for discussion
2. presenter or discussion leader for each topic
3. time allotment for each topic
provides an outline for the meeting (how long to spend on which topics)
can be used as a checklist to ensure that all information is covered
lets participants know what will be discussed if it's distributed before the meeting. This gives them an
opportunity to come to the meeting prepared for the upcoming discussions or decisions.
provides a focus for the meeting (the objective of the meeting must be clearly stated in the agenda)

1. Send an e-mail stating there will be a meeting, the goal of the meeting as well as the administrative
details such as when and where it will be. Ask those invited to accept or decline the meeting. Make it clear
that once they have accepted the meeting, they are expected to attend.

2. Ask participants requesting an agenda item to contact you no less than two days before the meeting
with their request and the amount of time they will need to present it.

3. Once all of the agenda requests have been submitted to you, summarize them in a table format with
the headings Agenda Item, Presenter and Time. It's your responsibility to ensure that each agenda item is
directly related to the goals of this particular meeting. If an inappropriate request is made, suggest that
person send an e-mail or memo instead or recommend that this agenda item be discussed in another
meeting. Also, you must be realistic in the amount of time you allocate to each presenter. Don't cram an
unrealistic number of agenda items into an hour meeting. When people accept an hour meeting, they
expect to be finished in an hour. When meetings go over time, people generally tend to get uneasy. It's
better to schedule 50 minutes of discussion into an hour time slot. This way you have 10 minutes to spare
and if you get done a little early, people will be pleased.

4. Send the agenda to all the meeting participants the day before the meeting with a reminder of the
meeting goals, location, time and duration. At this time, ask the presenters if they are happy with the order
in which they will be speaking and the amount of time they have been allocated.

5. Of course, the most important part of creating an effective agenda is to follow it during the meeting!

MEETING AGENDA
 Project
SYSTEM Z Redesign Phase
Name:

Purpose, Objectives and Elements of the Meeting:

Risk Identification Workshop

Expected Attendees: Date and Time: 14 December 1997

A. Smith (Chair)
J. Wilder
J. Lyon
R. Lakey
Place: Tower C, Room 701
J. Grimes
G. Jackson
P. Labelle
J. Hughson

Agenda Item Person Responsible Time

Introduction
1. A. Smith 2 mins
Review purpose of workshop.

Risk Management Process

2. Review the basic definition of risk and the A. Smith 15 mins

approach to risk management established for
the SYSTEM Z project.

3. Risk Identification Brainstorming All 90 mins

 Actively participate in a non-judgemental
think-tank session to identify risks in each
type and category and produce an initial list of
risks. (The list will be assessed, prioritised,
and maintained after the workshop.)

List of Attachments:

Copy of risk management standards and procedures.

SAMPLE AGENDA

Each agenda will be customized according to the business needs of our visitors, please see an
example agenda below:

09.00 - 09.15 Welcome and Introduction

09.15 – 09.45 Objectives of the visit – visitors view

09.45 – 10.45 Software AG: Corporate Strategy and Vision

10.45 – 11.00 Break

11.00 – 12.00 Future of Adabas & Natural - Roadmap

12.00 – 13.00 Legacy Modernization Strategy

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.00 Overview on SOA and webMethods

15.00 – 16.00 SOA Governance and CentraSite

16.00 – 16.30 Wrap Up