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The transition to digital meetings is tough. Meetings were bad enough when we were all in the office. Transitioning to virtual meetings reveals all their flaws.
But meetings don’t have to be horrible. They are still a very effective way to collaborate when you use them as a specialized form of collaboration and not a panacea for all problems.
One of the best ways to improve meetings is to use a virtual meeting agenda template. (This is a best practice for co-located and hybrid meetings as well.) You’ve always known that agendas are helpful. But just like eating right, getting enough sleep, and regular exercise, we tend to preach more than practice.
Let’s dive into why a virtual meeting agenda template is a great idea and what should be in yours.
Click here if you want to go straight to the template, in Google Doc form.
Why virtual meeting agendas are more important than ever
Everyone agrees that meeting agendas are good, but very few actually practice them. Whether it’s because we are just lazy, or see them as busy work, the agenda is often neglected.
But the shift to a digital workplace makes agendas extremely important. Here are five reasons we need to stop winging meetings and start using agendas.
1. We need to respect people’s time
One of the hallmarks of a great digital workplace is a respect for time. You can’t be effective in a digital environment if you are in meetings all day long. Meetings are a sacred event and aren’t free. If you don’t use a virtual meeting agenda, you are being inconsiderate with other people’s time. Agendas keep the meeting on task, allow people to prepare, optimize discussion time, and document decisions and actions so that you don’t have to repeat the meeting later.
2. There’s less shared context
One of the many things co-located teams got for free was shared context. You breathed the same air. You felt the same energy. You overheard the same conversations. A virtual meeting agenda seems like overkill if everyone already knows what’s going on.
There is much more independent work in digital workplaces. Conversations are more isolated. Meetings are the one chance to share the context. The agenda helps to make sure people know what’s going on before the meeting starts.
3. Meetings are the most expensive form of collaboration
Meetings are a great way to collaborate, but they aren’t cheap. They pull everyone away from focus work mode at the same time. If you are going to use the most expensive tool in your arsenal, you want to get the most out of it. That means maximizing the time spent discussing and in real-time, ultra-quick collaboration. A virtual meeting agenda template lets you jump into discussions quickly and keeps everyone focused.
4. The act of creating an agenda makes meetings better
When you sit down with a virtual meeting agenda template, you think through what context people need, what pre-work they should do, and what questions to resolve. Spending 15 minutes on your agenda automatically makes them more effective. You will think through important ideas and refine the core issues before everyone gets together.
5. Poorly planned virtual meetings are brutal
We’ve all tried (unsuccessfully) to not be distracted while a presentation drags on. But the sirens of email and social media call us all. Bad virtual meetings are not only a waste of time, they put you in a bad mood the rest of the day.
What should be in your virtual meeting agenda template
- A link to your virtual meeting ground rules for reference
- A selection for why a meeting is the right collaboration choice
- Pre-work participants should do ahead of time such as reading or adding comments
- A check-in question
- An OKR reminder to keep your main objectives in mind
- A list of questions you want to answer during the meeting
- A record of decisions everyone consented to
- A list of tasks/action items people committed to
Where should you create the agenda?
Most major office calendars like Google, Microsoft, and Apple have a place for an attachment or to add notes. Your agenda should be included with any calendar invite.
READ: Create the agenda before you send out invites 😀
You can also use a speciality service like Docket that is made for leveling up your virtual meeting agendas.
After the meeting is over, store the agenda in a durable location in a shared folder for future reference.
Use our free virtual meeting agenda template!
This is the template we use for our team, and it gets refined all the time. Check it out and use it to create your own.
No one should have to tolerate bad meetings. Leaders often think they are off the hook when it comes to using an agenda. Using a virtual meeting agenda template makes sure that everyone starts the meeting with the same information and improves the meeting for all.
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
The transition to digital meetings is tough. Meetings were bad enough when we were all in the office. Transitioning to virtual meetings reveals all their flaws.
But meetings don’t have to be horrible. They are still a very effective way to collaborate when you use them as a specialized form of collaboration and not a panacea for all problems.
One of the best ways to improve meetings is to use a virtual meeting agenda template. (This is a best practice for co-located and hybrid meetings as well.) You’ve always known that agendas are helpful. But just like eating right, getting enough sleep, and regular exercise, we tend to preach more than practice.
Let’s dive into why a virtual meeting agenda template is a great idea and what should be in yours.
Click here if you want to go straight to the template, in Google Doc form.
Why virtual meeting agendas are more important than ever
Everyone agrees that meeting agendas are good, but very few actually practice them. Whether it’s because we are just lazy, or see them as busy work, the agenda is often neglected.
But the shift to a digital workplace makes agendas extremely important. Here are five reasons we need to stop winging meetings and start using agendas.
1. We need to respect people’s time
One of the hallmarks of a great digital workplace is a respect for time. You can’t be effective in a digital environment if you are in meetings all day long. Meetings are a sacred event and aren’t free. If you don’t use a virtual meeting agenda, you are being inconsiderate with other people’s time. Agendas keep the meeting on task, allow people to prepare, optimize discussion time, and document decisions and actions so that you don’t have to repeat the meeting later.
2. There’s less shared context
One of the many things co-located teams got for free was shared context. You breathed the same air. You felt the same energy. You overheard the same conversations. A virtual meeting agenda seems like overkill if everyone already knows what’s going on.
There is much more independent work in digital workplaces. Conversations are more isolated. Meetings are the one chance to share the context. The agenda helps to make sure people know what’s going on before the meeting starts.
3. Meetings are the most expensive form of collaboration
Meetings are a great way to collaborate, but they aren’t cheap. They pull everyone away from focus work mode at the same time. If you are going to use the most expensive tool in your arsenal, you want to get the most out of it. That means maximizing the time spent discussing and in real-time, ultra-quick collaboration. A virtual meeting agenda template lets you jump into discussions quickly and keeps everyone focused.
4. The act of creating an agenda makes meetings better
When you sit down with a virtual meeting agenda template, you think through what context people need, what pre-work they should do, and what questions to resolve. Spending 15 minutes on your agenda automatically makes them more effective. You will think through important ideas and refine the core issues before everyone gets together.
5. Poorly planned virtual meetings are brutal
We’ve all tried (unsuccessfully) to not be distracted while a presentation drags on. But the sirens of email and social media call us all. Bad virtual meetings are not only a waste of time, they put you in a bad mood the rest of the day.
What should be in your virtual meeting agenda template
- A link to your virtual meeting ground rules for reference
- A selection for why a meeting is the right collaboration choice
- Pre-work participants should do ahead of time such as reading or adding comments
- A check-in question
- An OKR reminder to keep your main objectives in mind
- A list of questions you want to answer during the meeting
- A record of decisions everyone consented to
- A list of tasks/action items people committed to
Where should you create the agenda?
Most major office calendars like Google, Microsoft, and Apple have a place for an attachment or to add notes. Your agenda should be included with any calendar invite.
READ: Create the agenda before you send out invites 😀
You can also use a speciality service like Docket that is made for leveling up your virtual meeting agendas.
After the meeting is over, store the agenda in a durable location in a shared folder for future reference.
Use our free virtual meeting agenda template!
This is the template we use for our team, and it gets refined all the time. Check it out and use it to create your own.
No one should have to tolerate bad meetings. Leaders often think they are off the hook when it comes to using an agenda. Using a virtual meeting agenda template makes sure that everyone starts the meeting with the same information and improves the meeting for all.
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
