Most meetings should have an agenda. Why are you there, what are you trying to accomplish, how long it will take. That is just good business.
Sometimes, though, an agenda is the last thing you need. The purpose of the meeting is just to be together, and what happens is what happens. Lunch with a friend, or breakfast with your spouse are often like that. The point is the person, not the meeting.
We run into trouble when we mix the two. No agendas at work lead to wasted time, since the people are not that important, and nothing gets accomplished. Having an agenda when you are romancing your wife is also a bad idea, it turns out (what, you don't want to look over our budget during dinner?).
So think about it before the meeting. If it needs an agenda, get one or cancel the meeting. If it does not, drop your preconceived notions. Just do not get confused.
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2 comments:
I think the work of homemaking can be very confusing in this aspect. I think sometimes having an agenda for a personal get-together can be very helpful... Say, everything from when I meet with a girlfriend, and I make a list of the things we want to talk about (your wife and I have done this). Or is this the mommy equivalent of the business meeting? What about when I make appointment with someone to pray together? What about when I make a list of things I don't want to discuss with family during the holidays? Or the pies I'm goign to bake with my sister? An old-fashioned quilting bee or barn-raising? What about the list of things I do with/for my kids? Some things intrude and should be discarded, (do we really need to go to the zoo this week when we're sick?), but others are just responsible parenting: getting the diapers changed and dinner on the table. My "agendas" are less important to me than the people, but I am still trying to get them done.
@Lisa - I think you're asking the right questions. The issue is not whether agendas are good or bad, but whether we should have one right now, in the current conversation. From what I can see, homemaking requires even more discipline and flexibility than the business world when it comes to planning and letting go of plans. Without serious intentionality, little ones won't let you get anything done...without flexibility, you'll go insane.
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