Creating an agenda

Last updated on 2026-02-24 | Edit this page

Overview

Questions

  • How do I establish and communicate goals for my meeting?

Objectives

After completing this episode, participants will be able to…

  • Collect proposed agenda items from meeting participants
  • Triage to create a maximally-impactful agenda
  • Establish a transparent process for saving items for future meetings

If you’re going to have a meeting, you should have something to meet about. Meetings shouldn’t happen just because there’s time reserved on the calendar. Whether for recurring meetings or one time meetings, the meeting host should take some time in advance to decide what topics will be discussed, for how long, and what the intended outcomes are.

Collecting agenda items

If you’re hosting a meeting, you will likely already have some ideas for the agenda, but you should also have a process for participants to propose agenda items. This is especially true if your meeting is a recurring meeting with the same group members (e.g. a weekly project team meeting). Enabling participants to propose agenda items for the group’s discussion and co-working increases the overall impact and buy-in for the meeting. Participants will be able to use meeting time to get feedback on products they’ve been developing, help to overcome obstacles they’ve encountered, and insights into questions that benefit from multiple perspectives. Instead of spending meeting time wishing the meeting was over so they could get their “real work” done, participants will be motivated to engage fully in the meeting because it directly progresses their and other project member’s goals.

The Carpentries uses a Google form to collect agenda item suggestions for our weekly full-team meeting, but your team can use any method. For informal, recurring meetings, a simple method could be asking team members to enter proposed items directly into a shared agenda document. Item proposers should indicate their suggested topics and the amount of time they want for each, along with any preparation (e.g. pre-reading) people should do before the meeting. They should also indicate whether their agenda item is time sensitive, or can be saved for a future meeting. Make sure you establish a deadline for submitting proposed agenda items!

Setting up the agenda

After the deadline has passed, but at least a day before the meeting, the meeting host should triage submitted topics to create a final agenda, selecting the most important, time-sensitive, and/or impactful items for discussion and co-working. If you have too many items to cover in one meeting, be sure to set target dates for any items that are being reserved for future meetings and communicate those dates with the individuals who proposed those items. It can be very demotivating to propose items for discussion only to have them disappear into the ether! It may be useful to maintain a “garage” for future meeting topics, along with their associated dates, for transparency and accountability. The meeting host will keep the “garage” list up to date by adding new items as they are submitted and removing items once they have been discussed. This can be done directly on the agenda document, or on a separate document or spreadsheet, so long as it is accessible to participants.

If items are submitted that don’t require discussion or feedback (for example, announcements), these can be highlighted at the top of the agenda in a dedicated “non-verbal updates” section. Keep this section short and to-the-point. Participants should be able to read it while they settle in for the meeting.

Time estimates

For each item on the agenda, include a time estimate, both as the number of minutes that will be allocated for that item and the associated start and end times. This will help keep early agenda items from dominating the meeting time, and ensure that all topics get their fair share of the group’s attention. Keeping the meeting to time will be the job of the Timekeeper (a role we’ll discuss later). If an agenda item is taking longer than expected, the item owner can request additional time, awarded based on consent of the remaining agenda item owners.

For online meetings spanning multiple time zones, start and end times should be listed in a time zone agnostic format. For example, a 15 minute agenda item starting at the top of the hour can be listed as :00 - :15). Time stamps should be adjusted by the timekeeper as meeting time is requested and ceded.

MARKDOWN 

## Garage
* Update on brand refresh project (15 min) - Kathleen (September meeting)

## 17 August, 2026

### Pre-meeting reading
* Please browse [the data model schematic](https://example.org/data-model-schematic.png) before joining the meeting

### Non-verbal updates
* Reminder: equipment inventory updates due 22 August.

### Agenda
* Shuttle launch retrospective (20 min, :00 - :20) - Rob
* Feedback on community data model (15 min, :20 - :35) - Yochannah
* Planning Q3 seminar schedule (15 min, :35 - :50) - Patricia

The meeting host should send the meeting agenda to all participants at least 24-hours before the meeting along with any required pre-reading or other preparation.

Challenge

Agenda Triage Practice (10 min)

You are in charge of organising the agenda for your research group’s weekly 60-minute meeting. You’ve received the following proposed agenda items:

  • Clarification of authorship order on upcoming paper (Amina) - 15 min
  • Brainstorm priority research themes for the next 3 years (Mateo) - 25 min
  • Grant proposal feedback (Soo-Jin) - 20 min. Internal deadline next week. Two page proposal outline included as pre-read.
  • Research ethics review delays (Luca) - 15 min.
  • New funding call discussion (Priya) - 20 minutes. Expression of interest due in 3 weeks.
  • Updated travel reimbursement policy (Kwame) - 5 min
  • Lab printer repeatedly malfunctioning (Elena) - 10 min
  • Request to coordinate bulk software license purchase (Yara) - 10 min

In your small group, create a 60-minute agenda for this meeting. Include time stamps and item owners. Create a garage for future meetings. If there are any items that aren’t relevant for group discussion, what will you as the meeting coordinator do to communicate appropriate next steps with the individuals who proposed them?

Group answers to this challenge will vary, and that’s ok! One possible solution is shown below.

  • Non-verbal updates: Check your email for our updated travel reimbursement policy. Contact Kwame with questions.
  • :00 - :20 Grant proposal feedback (Soo-Jin)
  • :20 - :35 Research ethics review delays (Luca)
  • :35 - :50 New funding call discussion (Priya)
  • :50 - :60 Bulk software license coordination (Yara)

Garage:

  • Brainstorm priority research themes for the next 3 years (Mateo) - 25 min, next week (Preparatory work to be sent out in advance)

Handle outside of meeting:

  • Lab printer repeatedly malfunctioning (Elena) - put in a facilities ticket
  • Clarification of authorship order on upcoming paper (Amina) - direct discussion among paper authors
Key Points
  • Meetings will be most effective when participants are involved in setting the agenda.
  • Not all submitted items should make it to the final agenda.