Take your meetings to the next level

To be a good steward of what God has given you, you want to pursue organizational excellence. You want your organization’s meetings to result in increased achievement of your organization’s God-given mission.

Question: How effective are the agendas of your organization’s meetings?

Before answering this question, think of your organization’s meetings as classes. Specifically, think of a meeting you lead as a class you teach. Your students (meeting participants) attend your class to learn (how to achieve the mission). You use your curriculum (meeting agendas) to help your students learn. Now, back to the question.

To answer this question, respond with brutal honesty to the following statements about a class (meeting) you teach (lead). For each item, identify the “Actual” (current achievement) and the “Target” (goal).

Use the following scale:
5: Consistently • 4: Often • 3: Generally • 2: Sometimes • 1: Rarely

Overall, my curriculum content (agenda):
Target / Actual
______ / ______ Is articulated.
______ / ______ Is challenging.
______ / ______ Is coherent.
______ / ______ Is relevant.
______ / ______ Targets our God-given mission.

Each time I teach (lead a meeting), I have a plan that includes:
Target / Actual
______ / ______ Key questions my students will consider.
______ / ______ Content and/or skills my students will learn.
______ / ______ Assessment (how I will know if my students are learning).
______ / ______ Instructional strategies I will use to help my students learn content/skills.
______ / ______ A list of resources.


Now that you have responded to each item in terms of “targets” and “actuals”:
  1. Identify 1 area you want to address.
  2. Develop 2-3 action steps you can take to move your “actual” toward your “target.”
Need a suggestion? If you lead meetings in a school setting, using curriculum mapping. For each meeting you lead:
  1. Identify the “course” name
  2. Develop a course description (3-5 sentences).
  3. Develop a unit map (annual plan) that includes questions, standards, content, skills, assessment, instructional strategies, and resources.
  4. Publish your unit map so your students (meeting participants) can see it.
  5. Use your unit map to develop your lesson plans (individual meeting agendas).
Steward what God has given you. Take your meetings to the next level. Pursue excellence today.