What's my agenda

I love a meeting agenda, except they often tend to leave out the things that really matter to me.

They help us to know what we are going to discuss - sometimes only vaguely.

They tell us where we need to be.

They tell us what the timeframe is.

They might not be explicit about who is coming, but you can usually see that if there is a calendar invite - and sometimes this comes with its own questions.

But with few exceptions, agendas don't tell us why we are getting together to discuss things and the outcomes we would want to achieve. Where I have seen attempts, they tend to be generic statements and open to interpretation.

And what is even rarer is sharing how we intend to go about this. What is expected of me at this time? Listen for information.? Come up with suggestions? Understand the background and give expert advice? Are we working together or contributing individually? Are we debating an issue? And can we question the agenda itself?

Going in with a better understanding of why we are there and how we will contribute to the outcome will save a lot of wasted time. And the time you save not going to poorly arranged meetings can be spent preparing for better meetings or doing something else.