Move Away From the Shopping List Agenda
When I was a new executive director, I would frequently keep a piece of scratch paper next to my desk where I would jot the items I wanted to talk about at the upcoming board meeting. It looked a lot like the grocery list I kept in my kitchen at home:
I need eggs…. I need a resolution for the annual conflict of interest policy.
I need batteries for my flashlight …. I need a deep discussion about shifting our strategy.
I need toilet paper...I need to know the budget for the intern who starts next month.
“Weekly meetings can be a chance to highlight priorities and move your team forward. ”
When it was time to prepare the board meeting agenda, I’d sort my list. I’d usually prioritize what was the most urgent, like the intern budget (and toilet paper), followed by the have-tos (like the eggs), leaving the strategic item for the end (like the batteries for your flashlight before you need them).
I recognized that this method of developing an agenda wasn't effective. We would burn up our time on the urgent and have-tos without time for strategic discussions. Or, we’d struggle shifting between decision making roles and exploration roles, the same way we can lose our way in the grocery store reading labels for items not even on our list.
Over time, I experimented with a more strategic way of organizing our agenda. This strategic agenda clarifies what’s needed from the Board: decision, discussion, information, and even requests for help. The strategic agenda helps us focus on our long-term goals - items we’ve prioritized during planning. When I moved from a shopping list agenda to a strategic agenda my work unfolded with more intentionality. Our board meetings unfolded in the same way.
See What I Mean has extensive experience in meeting design, shifting weekly meetings to highlight priorities and move teams forward. Take our virtual course on effective meetings to learn more.