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In past articles, we’ve offered meeting agenda templates for sales team meetings, sprint planning meetings, and more.
But what if you don’t need something quite so specialized? If you’re looking for a more general meeting agenda template that can be applied across teams, departments, and even industries, keep reading for a highly adaptable meeting structure that can be customized to any situation.
Before we get to the customizable template, there are a few steps you’ll want to take to help streamline the agenda planning process:
Once you know who will be attending your meeting and what you need to cover, use the following template to create a custom team meeting agenda. You may not need to include all of the elements listed below—pick and choose from the list based on your unique circumstances and requirements.
If possible, distribute your template far enough in advance of your meeting that attendees have an opportunity to review it, ask questions, and carry out any necessary preparation. That way, when it comes time to open the meeting for business, all of your attendees will be ready to hit the ground running.
Formal meetings typically begin with an official call to order which recognizes that the session has begun. Often, this involves stating the date, time, location, company name, and other details to be recorded in the meeting’s official record.
In less formal meetings, this step is typically skipped, and the session begins once all attendees are present and accounted for.
Also used primarily in formal meetings, the roll call states who is present—potentially including their name, department, or affiliation—to be read into the meeting minutes. However, even in informal gatherings, a casual roll call can be an effective way to determine if all expected attendees are present and to ensure everyone knows who’s who in the meeting.
Often only used in board meetings and other formal gatherings, this agenda item involves reviewing the minutes that were taken at the group’s last meeting and formally asserting that they’re accurate. If meeting minutes are not regularly taken by the group gathering, this step can be skipped.
Depending on the intent of your meeting, it may be beneficial to review open issues. For example, if you’re holding a marketing team meeting to brainstorm a new campaign, reviewing the results of campaigns that are currently running can provide important context.
On the other hand, if your meeting is being called to address a specific issue—for instance, to share quarterly performance data—there’s no need to set time aside to discuss open issues.
This is the ‘meat’ of your meeting, which can live under a generic ‘New Business’ agenda item, or be broken down into more specific sections. The following are some of the sub-items you may want to include in this section:
Whether your meeting is considered formal or informal, it’s always a good idea to wrap up with a review of the action items you’ve discussed, including:
If you’ve designated a person as the meeting’s note-taker, have them send out a summary email after the session sharing these items. Otter can also be useful here as well, as attendees can go back to the meeting’s notes on their own to review the action items and deadlines assigned to them.
Lastly, whether you close your meeting with a formal adjournment or an informal recognition that all planned business is complete, it’s still a good idea to ask attendees one final time whether they have any questions. Even the best meeting planners let things slip through the cracks on occasion. So plan to take a moment to ensure everything has been covered before concluding the session.
Outside of your planned meeting agenda, make sure you allocate time on your calendar to complete any necessary post-meeting activities, such as sharing the Otter notes link to all attendees. If you use Otter Assistant, your notes will automatically share with all participants (saving you a step after the meeting).
To get started using Otter in combination with your team meeting agendas, give Otter Business a try with a 10-day free trial.
In past articles, we’ve offered meeting agenda templates for sales team meetings, sprint planning meetings, and more.
But what if you don’t need something quite so specialized? If you’re looking for a more general meeting agenda template that can be applied across teams, departments, and even industries, keep reading for a highly adaptable meeting structure that can be customized to any situation.
Before we get to the customizable template, there are a few steps you’ll want to take to help streamline the agenda planning process:
Once you know who will be attending your meeting and what you need to cover, use the following template to create a custom team meeting agenda. You may not need to include all of the elements listed below—pick and choose from the list based on your unique circumstances and requirements.
If possible, distribute your template far enough in advance of your meeting that attendees have an opportunity to review it, ask questions, and carry out any necessary preparation. That way, when it comes time to open the meeting for business, all of your attendees will be ready to hit the ground running.
Formal meetings typically begin with an official call to order which recognizes that the session has begun. Often, this involves stating the date, time, location, company name, and other details to be recorded in the meeting’s official record.
In less formal meetings, this step is typically skipped, and the session begins once all attendees are present and accounted for.
Also used primarily in formal meetings, the roll call states who is present—potentially including their name, department, or affiliation—to be read into the meeting minutes. However, even in informal gatherings, a casual roll call can be an effective way to determine if all expected attendees are present and to ensure everyone knows who’s who in the meeting.
Often only used in board meetings and other formal gatherings, this agenda item involves reviewing the minutes that were taken at the group’s last meeting and formally asserting that they’re accurate. If meeting minutes are not regularly taken by the group gathering, this step can be skipped.
Depending on the intent of your meeting, it may be beneficial to review open issues. For example, if you’re holding a marketing team meeting to brainstorm a new campaign, reviewing the results of campaigns that are currently running can provide important context.
On the other hand, if your meeting is being called to address a specific issue—for instance, to share quarterly performance data—there’s no need to set time aside to discuss open issues.
This is the ‘meat’ of your meeting, which can live under a generic ‘New Business’ agenda item, or be broken down into more specific sections. The following are some of the sub-items you may want to include in this section:
Whether your meeting is considered formal or informal, it’s always a good idea to wrap up with a review of the action items you’ve discussed, including:
If you’ve designated a person as the meeting’s note-taker, have them send out a summary email after the session sharing these items. Otter can also be useful here as well, as attendees can go back to the meeting’s notes on their own to review the action items and deadlines assigned to them.
Lastly, whether you close your meeting with a formal adjournment or an informal recognition that all planned business is complete, it’s still a good idea to ask attendees one final time whether they have any questions. Even the best meeting planners let things slip through the cracks on occasion. So plan to take a moment to ensure everything has been covered before concluding the session.
Outside of your planned meeting agenda, make sure you allocate time on your calendar to complete any necessary post-meeting activities, such as sharing the Otter notes link to all attendees. If you use Otter Assistant, your notes will automatically share with all participants (saving you a step after the meeting).
To get started using Otter in combination with your team meeting agendas, give Otter Business a try with a 10-day free trial.
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