This Lunar New Year marks a brand new year, the Year of the Monkey. The “Monkey is a smart, naughty, wily and vigilant animal,” according to the Chinese Fortune Calendar. Since I was born during the Year of the Pig, I find that much of this ‘monkey’ business does not blatantly apply to me. However, I have learned that these ‘monkeys’ have a clever way of inserting their witty antics into each and everyone one of us – especially at the start of the holiday.

This year, Chinese New Year sort of snuck up on me and my family. Sometime within the two week holiday period, my family and I artfully arrange for two traditional Chinese banquets – one on my Mom’s side of the family and one on my Dad’s side. And somehow, as the days came and went, no banquet was arranged on either side of the family. While it’s convenient to say I (or we) didn’t take the initiative to plan, I’m going to use the monkey as my scapegoat and say there was too much ‘monkeying’ around.

In project management, time is of the essence and whether or not you find your team ‘monkeying’ around, there’s always a deadline to meet. Emails, status reports, project plans are some major components that contribute to aligning teams and gaining workplace efficiencies, but they don’t take the place of face-to-face meetings. Since we’ve all got quite a handful of these on the calendar, it’s more important to clearly outline the goals and objectives of each meeting and pair it with a detailed agenda. Here are a few best practices I’ve acquired overtime on both the agency and corporate side to skillfully drive and maneuver meetings with ease, efficiency and effectiveness.

Do put together an agenda. If you don’t already do this, I suggest getting in the habit of forming some type of agenda. You might not have the time to create a detailed, page-long agenda, but jotting down a few simple bullets communicates the significance of the meeting – especially as you prioritize your way onto the busiest calendars – your manager’s or your manager’s manager.

Assign owners to each line item on your agenda. While one-on-one meetings are preferred, it’s likely your meetings will span to a larger circle to include your project team, stakeholders and customers. Each person who comes to the meeting plays a role, so as you define your agenda, make sure to include your team on topics or action items pertaining to them. I like to affix a name by each line item, so it’s clear who’s responsible for what. Make sure to give each person a heads up if they need to come prepared to speak about current status, educate the team, or raise any concerns that might derail or impede the project from moving forward. Whatever the topic, make sure you’re being direct and narrowing the talking points to what’s relevant to the current meeting.

Time box each of your agenda topics and speakers. With each meeting, you’re allocated only a certain amount of time to raise a discussion and have your team contribute at the table. Additionally, you’ve probably put together a loaded agenda that exceeds the allotted time of the meeting. So how do you manage to get through each topic you’ve set out to accomplish at the start? Allocate a certain amount of time to each discussion point and create a time box for each topic. If it’s helpful, assign a timekeeper who can let you know when you’ve reached your time limit, and then make it a point to conclude or follow up at another time. But do keep the meeting going and move on to the next topic.

Create a ‘parking lot’. As mentioned earlier, everyone who is present at the meeting usually plays a role and has a stake in the project. And with multiple team members come ideas – and more ideas – that either add or detract from the current meeting agenda, ultimately disrupting the flow of the project. For ideas that contribute to the goals and objective of the meeting, make sure to capitalize on them and continue the discussion. For ideas that might offset the meeting or generate new ideas not pertaining to the agenda, create a separate list or what I would call, a “parking lot” that houses these ideas that need to be considered or revisited at a later time. It’s important to acknowledge and thank the team for these ideas, and note that they will be evaluated outside of this current meeting, but not at this time.

Conclude by soliciting questions and next steps. Given that you’ve ticked off the items on your agenda, I’ve found that it’s helpful to conclude with soliciting any questions, comments or concerns from the team. At the end of the meeting, you might have accomplished everything you’ve set out to accomplish, but your team may not have had the opportunity to contribute their own agenda items. Give your team the opportunity for a quick two minute round table to raise any questions and tie up any loose ends. Chances are you might have overlooked something that should have been included on the agenda from the start. Additionally, close with immediate action items and next steps that can set the tone for your next meeting.

By creating a meeting agenda and integrating these best practices, I’ve found it’s easier to mobilize teams and drive your project forward with less oversight. What are some of key components you include in your agenda?