FREE RESOURCE · MEETINGS
Meeting Agenda
A good agenda is a plan for a decision, not a list of topics. This template turns every item into an outcome, a time and an owner — and leaves room to record what was actually agreed.
WHAT AN AGENDA IS FOR
An agenda decides what a meeting spends its time on. Written well, it tells everyone why they are there, what they need to have read and what will be different when the meeting ends.
Written badly — as a list of topics — it guarantees a discussion and makes a decision unlikely. The difference is almost entirely in how each item is framed.
THE ANATOMY OF A GOOD AGENDA
- 01
Meeting details
Title, date, time, location or meeting method, chair, attendees and apologies. Include joining details for anyone remote, so nobody spends the first five minutes finding the link.
- 02
Purpose
One sentence on why the meeting needs to happen. If the purpose can be met by an email, send the email instead.
- 03
Desired outcome
The end state, not the activity: "Agreement on the Q1 priorities", not "Discuss Q1". This is the test the meeting will be judged against.
- 04
Agenda items
Each item has an owner, a time and an outcome type — Decide, Discuss or Inform. Items without an outcome are usually items that do not need the meeting.
- 05
Pre-reading
List the papers, who provides them and when they will arrive. Send them at least two working days ahead and assume they have been read.
- 06
Decisions required
Write each decision as a question that can be answered yes or no, or as a choice between options. Record the answer in the meeting.
- 07
Actions
Every action has one named owner and a date. "The team will look into it" is not an action.
- 08
Notes and next steps
Capture only what the record needs: what was decided, what changes, who communicates the outcome and when the next meeting is.
AN EXAMPLE AGENDA
A sixty-minute leadership meeting, ordered so that the decisions get the best of the room’s attention.
- 10:00
Purpose, outcome and apologies
Chair · 5 min · Inform
- 10:05
Approve the revised onboarding process
Head of Operations · 15 min · Decide
- 10:20
Choose between two options for the Q1 campaign
Marketing Lead · 15 min · Decide
- 10:35
Risks to the January go-live
Programme Manager · 15 min · Discuss
- 10:50
Updates taken as read; questions only
All · 5 min · Inform
- 10:55
Read back decisions, actions and owners
Chair · 5 min
FIVE RULES FOR THE CHAIR
- 01
Decisions before reports
Put the items that need judgement first. Routine updates can be read in advance or taken in the last five minutes.
- 02
Fewer, better items
Three or four substantive items is a full meeting. More than that and the last ones will be rushed.
- 03
Protect the close
Keep five minutes to read back decisions and actions. It prevents people leaving with different versions of what was agreed.
- 04
One owner per action
Ask for a name and a date before moving on. If nobody will take it, the action is not real.
- 05
Circulate the record the same day
Decisions and actions go out while they are fresh. The minutes can follow.
FREE RESOURCE
Download the Meeting Agenda
A two-part template: a one-page agenda to send in advance, and a meeting record for decisions, actions, notes and next steps — with guidance on each field. The Word version is fully editable.
Free to download, print and share in its original form. No payment, account or sign-up required.