Employing a well-planned, written meeting agenda is critical to making progress, staying focused, and, making people feel valued enough not to waste their time.
However, in some circumstances, deviating from a well-planned agenda is warranted.
If a governing board is discussing the potential of moving forward with a major fundraising campaign, that topic is probably more deserving of discussion than is a committee report devoid of action items.
If a prospect management team member is seeking feedback on how to respond to a donor who has asked a potentially controversial question, that topic is probably more important for all the gift officers than moving on to the metrics report.
If a member of the team is struggling emotionally with the loss of someone important to them and shares that ache during a team meeting, that individual’s status is probably more important than an update on the next magazine’s feature story.
Some leaders believe that “staying on time,” is the most important function of the agenda. It’s not. They will stick to the agenda no matter what is emerging as “more important.”
The purpose of a well-planned, written agenda is to ensure that the most important information is shared, the most importance topics are discussed, and the most important decisions are made.
Sometimes that well-planned, written agenda needs to change in order to achieve that purpose.
