Like speeches, the most useful meetings start with a plan. What is the first step in that plan? Defining the purpose of the meeting. Meetings that don’t have a clear purpose waste everyone’s time. Teams meet for many different purposes. In information briefings, participants get updated on key developments of an event or a situation. For example, Joe’s oldest son attends monthly sales meetings at his job to learn about new products and sales incentives. Problem-solving meetings address an undesirable situation, such as when microchip engineers gather to analyze defects in their company’s manufacturing process and generate ideas for remedying the problem. Decision-making meetings entail making a choice about something, such as when your French club meets to choose a date for the annual picnic.

Most meetings incorporate a bit of all three—information briefing, problem solving, and decision making—though one of these purposes may be paramount. Whatever the purpose, identifying it (or them) helps leaders develop the meeting agenda—a structured, written outline that guides communication among meeting participants by showing which topics will be discussed, in what order, and (often) for how long. Without an agenda, team members may start talking about different subjects at the same time or go off on tangents. (See Table 12.2 for a sample meeting agenda.)

Identifying a meeting’s purpose and developing an agenda help leaders decide who should attend the meeting and what materials participants will need to prepare for and take part in the meeting. Leaders can then make sure to distribute in advance any readings, reports, or other materials that will be discussed in the meeting, so participants can come prepared.