Staff Meeting Agenda Template and Best Practices

When it comes to how to run an effective staff meeting, there is one thing attendees want leaders to do, and according to research, that is to share the agenda in advance. Meeting participants want to know the objective of the meetings, the topics that will be covered, and how they can prepare to make the most of the time. 

Cameron Herold seconds the importance of a meeting agenda in his book, Meetings Suck, where he shares his personal meeting motto of “No agenda, no attenda.” It isn’t meetings that are the problem, explains Herold: “Meetings don't suck we suck at running meetings. When done right, meetings not only work, they make people and companies better.” If you’re in charge of leading a staff meeting, you can make it the kind of meeting people want to attend with a little upfront work.

In this article, we will dive into the components of a great agenda, provide you with an editable agenda template, and share our top ten best practices for staff meeting agendas.

Jump to:

• The Purpose of Staff Meetings
• Staff Meeting Agenda Template
• Staff Meeting Agenda Best Practices 

What Is the Purpose Of a Staff Meeting?

If you’ve ever attended a poorly run meeting, you may have asked yourself, “What is the purpose of this meeting?” To be clear, the purpose of a meeting at work is to engage, align, deliver information, inspire collaboration, and strengthen team and company culture. When you’re leading a meeting, it is a prime opportunity to make attendees feel connected to one another, the organization, and the purpose of their work. Common purposes of meetings at work include:

• Sharing updates on financials, targets, and goals
• Exchanging information and best practices
• Strengthening team cohesion through a team-building exercise
• Collaborating on a project, planning, problem-solving, or capitalizing on an opportunity
• Recognizing achievements and celebrating milestones
• Providing learning opportunities
• Answering questions and sharing feedback in an open forum
• Driving alignment and reinforcement of the mission, vision, values, and strategy
• Announcing new initiatives and policies 

All of which is to say that every minute an employee spends in a meeting is time away from their work. So, before scheduling, you need to consciously decide its purpose, the staff meeting topics, and whether the opportunity cost of removing people from their work is worth it. Then, you need to communicate that purpose beforehand so that everyone set to attend knows why the meeting is taking place and understands the value of attending, and that’s where your meeting agenda comes in.

Staff Meeting Agenda Template 

Agendas are the first impression of what to expect from the meeting you’re leading, whether a team meeting or a huddle meeting. For example, staff meeting agendas sent before a meeting signal to attendees that this is a well-thought-out and productive use of their time, and 64% of employees said they’re more excited about meetings when they are well-planned. However, researchers found that not much thought goes into the agenda as most stay the same meeting after meeting. 

To make the process of creating an agenda for your staff meeting as easy as possible, we’ve compiled an editable meeting agenda template you can use. In it, you’ll find sections to record:

1. The Basics: Your meeting name, date, and time
2. Objectives For Your Meeting: What you intend to accomplish during your time together
3. Schedule For the Meeting: Details of each discussion item, who is leading the conversation, and the time allotment
4. Items to Prepare: These are your expectations of what attendees will have prepared for the meeting

As you set off to create your staff meeting agenda, we’ve compiled our list of ten tips and tricks to adopt as you build your agenda. These battle-tested best practices will help you ensure you leave a great first impression of what to expect from your staff meeting.

10 Best Practices for Staff Meeting Agenda

1. Ensure the objective of the staff meeting is crystal clear. You may even put the purpose of the meeting right in the title.
2. Provide thought-provoking questions and discussion points in the agenda to allow attendees time to think and prepare
3. Articulate the goal(s) for the meeting
4. Limit the number of topics
5. Select topics that are of interest to all attendees
6. Share the agenda at least two business days in advance
7. Ask for input on the agenda; create a sign-up sheet where individuals can add their ideas
8. Make each agenda item timebound to ensure all topics are covered and have an owner
9. Seek out multiple speakers so the meeting is not dominated by one person
10. Attach additional documents to the meeting agenda and reference them in the agenda

Hosting staff meetings is vital for leading effective teams and keeping them engaged, and it all starts with creating a compelling agenda for your meeting. By utilizing the template in this article and adhering to the ten best practices, you’re well on your way to leading the kind of staff meetings attendees want to join.

To take your meeting effectiveness one step further, many people leaders find it especially helpful to enroll in a training program that builds their leadership skills and their confidence. If this is something you would benefit from, look to a provider like the Niagara Institute, which offers leadership, communication, and diversity and inclusion programs that are specifically designed with the needs of the everyday leader in mind.