Before everyone starts drawing back their bows, there is a typo in the title. It should be Boardroom. Let’s start here: we all appreciate a nice, strong agenda. Innuendo aside, we are all on some sort of mission and the longer it takes to declare that to our audience, the more disinterested they are likely to become. Clarity of agenda, therefore, is critical to position the reason for the meeting/call/interaction.

A pre-announced and adhered-to agenda properly engages the audience with reduced friction and distraction.

Certainly in the virtual realm, desirable outcomes have become increasingly difficult to achieve as Zoom-fatigue, screaming children in the other room, and the chance to go for a quick hike on the nearby nature trail all pose barriers to effectively delivering our message and gaining alignment. Transitioning back to some degree of IRL interactions might pose the best opportunity to emerge as a master of effective, efficient and productive meetings.

Simply attempting to adhere to the following BPs might differentiate your approach enough to more accurately drive results toward your target, with the ultra-important support of your partners, team, vendors and clients. Should you become a diligent practitioner and, whoa, sky is the limit. These statements have not been approved by the FDA, but, we seem to not care about those qualifications much these days, so sorry – no refunds.

For starters, whether this is a marriage proposal, petition for public office, or new client pitch – the purpose of the communication, meeting, or engagement must be clear and genuine. Any audience picking up a whiff of weakness, or worse, false intentions, is sure to walk early and often.

If you are unable to be honest with yourself, then others will at some point acknowledge their Scooby sense and retreat from engaging with you. 

To illustrate the steps we believe essential, this fictitious scenario involves Pat and Sam (its/they) exploring an opportunity to engage in a collaborative arrangement that involves both parties making sensitive introductions for the purpose of cross-pollination of professional services.

1. Identify WIFM: Pat and Sam declare specific reasons for embarking on this collaboration (including elements of the larger vision), and share honest concerns around potential hindrances to such a joint venture. A solid line back to what is at stake for each party must be drawn. Once agreed it is worth exploring, logistics may be decided.
2. Pre-announce: Sam emails Pat with a brief, bulleted agenda the day prior, asking Pat to add/edit as they see fit. (ie: What else is pertinent to our discussion? Are there any external constraints helpful to know beforehand?)
3. Establish guardrails: as the meeting commences, Sam reviews the agenda and timing so each person is clear on what is about to occur. No one person or talking point should dominate the session. All relevant aspects of the conversation must at least be given some daylight, with follow-on discussions reserved for delving deeper where necessary.
4. Share the conch: Pat makes sure to diligently ask Sam for their perspectives after making a point, permitting each the opportunity to share their ideas and begin to “own” the success of the collaboration.
5. Next steps: Sam shares action items distilled from the discussion, with Pat editing according to their notes. The strength of these directives will determine the tempo of progress toward launching the relationship favorably. Each party will want to declare which item/topic each owns for the sake of dividing and conquering the list.
6. Milestones: with clear assignment of tasks, Sam and Pat depart with mutually-agreed deadlines for individual deliverables, as well as a follow-on date set to reconvene. Repeat from #2 with a fresh agenda.

Now imagine if Pat showed up and skipped right to #5, making demands of Sam without presenting them as amicable expectations after clearly identifying the WIFM. Talk about friction. What if the meeting went swimmingly, but neither tied it all together in the end? Lacking next steps, the interaction remains a conversation with no strategy deployed and unlikelihood of success.

Il Punto: Over the years, it has been both understandable and yet surprising to learn many seemingly successful C-suiters struggle with misalignment of their key leaders. The root cause most often is a lack of structure to meetings – they operate agenda-less. Once a commitment to the practice is initiated, there is marked lift in both alignment and overall cohesion of the team. More desirable outcomes always follow in short order.