The best way to have a productive meeting is to have an action-oriented agenda. But action-oriented agendas are more than a procedural list. They explain the goal of that part of the meeting as an action. Compare the below:

Team Meeting Agenda:

1. Action-plan review
2. Updates
3. Community discussion

Now imagine the agenda looked more like this:

1. Review Action Plan KPIs (Goal vs. Actual)
2. Update roundtable — What’s new in your top 3 priorities?
3. Discussion: Should we conduct a take-back day event? (When, Where, execution plan)

With just a few words, we have a much more compelling meeting agenda — one where everyone will show up knowing exactly what is expected.