If you’re wondering how to create a meeting agenda that you can easily insert into Outlook, then OneNote may be your answer. Instead of writing everything down with pen and paper or creating an agenda in Word and then emailing it as an attachment, one of the more efficient ways to prepare an agenda for a meeting is to use OneNote. Your manager or executive will usually provide you with the agenda items and a list of the attendees. You can then use OneNote to create the agenda and distribute it to the meeting attendees before the meeting. The agenda will also list the objectives or topics to be discussed and who is responsible for them.
OneNote Agenda Templates
The easiest way I’ve found to prepare a meeting agenda and mail it to the attendees is to use OneNote. OneNote provides an integration with Outlook that auto-populates all the details from the meeting into a notebook page called Meeting Details. OneNote provides several pre-built OneNote Agenda Templates that you can choose from like the formal meeting minutes template shown below. OneNote allows you to create and format a professional looking agenda and email it to the attendees directly from OneNote or you can connect to it and mail it directly from Outlook. OneNote even allows you to insert a PowerPoint presentation into your notes if required. These can be found on the Insert Tab > Page Templates icon on the Ribbon.
Click the Insert Tab on the Ribbon, then click on Page Templates. Hold down the down arrow and select the Formal Meeting Notes Template. Fill in the template with your agenda details as shown in the Meeting Agenda Examples below.
How to Prepare an Agenda
One of the purposes of the agenda is to keep the meeting running and on track and covering the objectives in the correct sequence. The agenda lets the attendees know in advance what will be discussed at the meeting and how to prepare. Before sending out the meeting invitation, use Notebook to build an agenda of subjects to be discussed and by whom. The following items should be on the meeting agenda:
- Name of Company or Department Holding the meeting and location
- Day, Date and Time of the Meeting
- Objectives or Action Items to be Discussed
- The responsible party for each agenda item
Meeting Agenda Examples using OneNote
There are many different styles of agendas and what format you use will usually depend on the type of meeting being held. As there are so many different types of meetings, OneNote contains several Business templates including a Simple Meeting Notes, Informal Meeting Notes and Formal Meeting Notes. All of these agenda templates can be modified to suit your needs.
Informal Meeting Agenda Example
If the meeting is informal, such as a weekly staff meeting, then you could use the Informal Meeting Notes template in OneNote. These meetings usually don’t need to mention New Business, Minutes of Previous Meetings, etc.
Open OneNote and click the Insert Tab on the Ribbon, then click on Page Templates. In the Templates window pane, select the Informal Meeting Notes Template. Fill in the template with your agenda details as shown in the Meeting Agenda Examples below.
Formal Meeting Agenda Example
Schedule your Meeting in Outlook
Once you’ve create your agenda, you are ready to send a link to your meeting invitation to the attendees.
- From the Home Tab on the Ribbon, select “New Item” > Meeting.
2. In the “to” field, add the attendees to the meeting
3. Enter a Subject and Location
4. Select a Start time and an End Time or select Scheduling Assistant to check the availability for all the attendees and pick a time.
5. On the Meetings Tab, Click Meeting Notes from the Meeting Notes group and select the Agenda and any notes you created in Onenote.
A link to your agenda will be included in the body of the email as shown below. Click the Send button to send your meeting notice.
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