Can You Name the Three Agendas Occurring in Your Team Meetings?
Photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash
We’re still figuring things out. Our new sub-team just started. We’ve only had a few meetings.
I started our last meeting with a clear purpose. Getting into the meeting, that purpose was still before us, but somehow, the focus was not what I was expecting. The group was looking at the topic from a surprising angle. On top of it, we were still figuring out how we wanted to work together.
There were three agendas going on in our meeting, but I had only prepared for one of them.
As I work to advance my skills as a professional facilitator, I’ve been reading The Art and Science of Facilitation by Marsha Acker. She described something I’ve experienced as I facilitate groups and lead my own team. Rather than just one agenda happening in a meeting, there are actually three.
The Three Agendas
1. The Presenting Agenda. This is the agenda at the top of your mind. It’s what you’ve (hopefully) announced that you plan to work on in advance. Presenting agendas include the “Three Foundational Building Blocks of an Effective Meeting”:
The topic(s)
The desired outcomes
The basic plan to arrive at the desired outcome
For my meeting, our topic was “expanding our services to new areas.” My desired outcome was to “obtain input” about the topic. Our problem arose because I shared the topic, “expanding our services,” but I neglected to share the outcome I desired.
2. The Emergent Agenda. This is what emerges as conversations happen, new perspectives are voiced, and ideas are generated. Acker explains, “Emergent agendas can feel like a tangent or beyond the scope of the meeting’s purpose, but there are times when the emergent agenda actually needs to be explored so that the group can reach their desired outcome.”
For my meeting, the emergent agenda centered the group's desire to support me as the founder. While this was an unexpected and much-appreciated emergent agenda, it changed the focus and actually threatened my desired outcome.
“However, I hadn’t communicated my desired outcome clearly. I had assumed my presenting agenda instead of stating it.”
The emergent agenda developed out of what the team had presumed. As a result, I felt at odds with the emergent agenda, and, instead of helping me, it ended up making me feel burdened. Since the meeting wasn’t accomplishing my (unspoken) presenting agenda, I wasn’t getting the input I desired.
3. The Developmental Agenda. When I facilitate other teams' work, I’m keenly aware that I want to help the group grow in their ability to work together effectively without needing an outside facilitator in the future. So, I always have a developmental agenda prepared, beyond the presenting agenda that was requested.
All groups need to grow and develop in their need to work well together, so this agenda is important for all leaders, but often neglected.
For my meeting, our developmental agenda became evident through the tension between the unspoken presenting agenda and the emergent agenda. It became clear that we still had a lot of work to do to co-own, not only our sub-team’s purpose, but also the communication of our desires around how we would work together.
For many teams with which I work, this developmental agenda involves interpersonal team communication skills. Often, they must learn the skills of giving the quieter members of the team a voice or figuring out safe ways to raise opposing opinions.
Thinking through these three agendas, even retrospectively, helped me as I prepared for my new sub-team’s next meeting. The presenting agenda of our next meeting covered the experience of the previous meeting. It included components from what emerged and our team's specific developmental needs as we grow to work together in a more caring and effective manner.
Just thinking through these three agendas and asking yourself: “What is the presenting agenda? What developmental agenda is needed? What emerged in the last meeting that still needs to be addressed?” is a great place to start.
Check out our step-by-step assessment to evaluate your last meeting and consider how to improve the next one.
