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The Global Insight

What is a meeting agenda and what is its purpose?

Author

Sarah Garza

Updated on March 01, 2026

A meeting agenda is a list of topics or activities you want to cover during your meeting. The main purpose of the agenda is to give participants a clear outline of what should happen in the meeting, who will lead each task and how long each step should take.

Why do you need an agenda for a meeting?

An agenda gives the person conducting the meeting control over the flow of discussions, the issues covered and the attendees responsible for reporting specific information at the meeting. An agenda also can help keep the meeting within a predetermined time frame controlling when issues are discussed.

What are 5 things you would include in a meeting agenda?

An ideal agenda body for me includes the following items in this order:

  • Call to order (2 minutes)
  • Welcome and introductions (5 minutes)
  • Housekeeping (5 minutes)
  • Review of agenda (2 minutes)
  • Approval of the previous meeting minutes (3 minutes)
  • President’s Report (5 minutes)
  • Staff Report (5 minutes)

What is a good agenda for team meeting?

Your staff meeting agenda should include:

  • Team updates and announcements.
  • A review of your key metrics and goals.
  • Priorities for the week ahead.
  • Roadblocks/Challenges.
  • Shoutouts.
  • Action items.
  • BONUS: Icebreakers or questions to get to know each other (especially if you’re working remotely)

What do you need to know about an agenda?

What is an Agenda? The agenda is the version of the meeting plan shared with meeting attendees. A meeting agenda may include a list of topics to discuss, a sequence of planned activities, or both. The simplest agendas are formatted as a short bulleted list.

What’s the difference between an agenda and a schedule?

Also known as: order of business or meeting timetable. An agenda is more than just a list of things to do. An agenda is a meeting program designed to allow all relevant topics to be dealt with in good order and in good time.

What should be included in a team meeting agenda?

For example, if you are using Nuclino as your internal wiki, you can simply @-mention your teammates in a comment and invite them to share their input. The topics you should include in your team meeting agenda depend, of course, on the purpose of the meeting.

Is the call to order part of the agenda?

Meetings should start on time with one rap of the gavel followed by the Chair saying, “The meeting will come to order.” The call to order is not an actual part of the agenda itself, but rather the signal that the agenda will now begin.