Agendas. I’ll be honest I hadn’t given them much thought. Then, Evan Addams spoke to our class and it was like a lightning bolt hit me. Of course agendas are wonderful! Once I looked back at some of my best experiences with business professionals, I realized they all used them. These weren’t the boring, stifling, outdated,
structuring tools I saw them as. Oh no, these free up the conversation, rather than restrict it.
I was partway through an interview process with a company I really wanted to work for. I was so taken aback by the fact that before every interaction, they sent an agenda. I didn’t realize that was what it was at the time. It might simply be an email saying, “I will call at 11:00, we will discuss X, before we move onto Y, and finish up with Z.” This meant that neither of us had to lead the conversation. We both knew where it was going to go. We could move from subject to subject without one of us stopping to say “alright, let me stop you there and instead lets talk about Y now.” Don’t fear the agenda, they represent conversational freedom. Most people don’t realize that they have been structured so, unless someone tells them first about this secret world of agendas. Next time you have a job interview or want to have a discussion with a coworker, give the agenda a shot and see how much more efficiently you use your time. I guarantee your future employer will be impressed if you drop the agenda bomb on them.
BoweryJE22
The importance of agendas cannot be overstated. I learned this best practice of the industry at my internship this summer–agendas were required 24 hours in advance before every weekly supervisor meeting. While it may at first seem like needless paperwork, it keeps conversations on track and shows a tremendous amount of respect for your employer.
This is a great tool in communication. I find that I often will create agendas for myself before an important conversation to make sure I cover all of the necessary topics. However, I usually won’t share that agenda with the other party. Having one mutual agenda that both groups understand makes the conversation much more efficient! Then everyone has an idea of where the discussion is headed and can navigate it towards one common purpose.