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Meeting Agenda Templates

Meeting Agenda Templates

Purpose: Maximize meeting effectiveness and minimize waste. Each Notion-based agenda template ensures meetings are customer-centric, disciplined, and action-oriented, reflecting the “no agenda, no meeting” mindset. Templates are provided for different meeting types (weekly team syncs, strategic planning sessions, all-hands meetings, and 1:1s), with a consistent focus on decisions and next steps.

All meeting templates emphasize clarity and brevity. They leverage Notion’s real-time editing for collaborative agenda building and use checkboxes or @mentions to assign tasks on the fly. By insisting on agendas and documenting discussions, the company enforces discipline: “No agenda, no meeting” ensures time is spent only when there’s defined value to be gained. Over time, these practices cut down on unnecessary meetings and make necessary ones highly productive and aligned with the customer-focused mission.

Weekly Team Meeting

Encourage team members to add to the agenda throughout the week. By meeting time, the agenda is pre-populated and prioritized. This fosters an async-first culture, so the live meeting is just to clarify and decide, not to update everyone from scratch

  • Opening Focus (Customer/Donor Highlight): Start with a quick story or data point about a donor or beneficiary to ground the team in customer obsession (e.g. a recent donor feedback or success story).
  • Scorecard Review: Review key metrics vs. targets (e.g. weekly fundraising totals, campaign KPIs) to maintain transparency on results.
  • Updates & Discussion: Bullet points for each team member or function to update on accomplishments, upcoming work, and roadblocks. This section is filled in asynchronously before the meeting. If there are no substantial updates or agenda items, cancel the meeting. If the agenda is empty, the meeting should not happen.
  • Always conclude with a quick round of feedback or “closing question” (e.g. “What customer problem did we solve this week?”) to reinforce purpose.
  • Decisions & Actions: Document any decisions made (with DRI noted) and assign action items with owners and deadlines. Every discussion point should ideally end with a clear decision or next step.
  • Parking Lot: A space for less urgent topics to be addressed outside the meeting or in a future agenda.

Strategic Planning Meeting

For quarterly or annual planning sessions (often at the executive or senior management level).

Make these sessions as asynchronous as possible – share pre-reads well in advance and even consider collecting input in the Notion page comments. Better decisions come from thorough preparation and documentation, not spur-of-the-moment discussion. Focus discussion on the “working backwards” perspective: start with what donor impact you want to see, then plan how to achieve it

  • Meeting Goal: e.g. “Define Q3 fundraising strategy and key initiatives.”
  • Pre-read Materials: Linked pages or docs (such as a drafted strategy memo, SWOT analysis, or Amazon-style 6-page narrative if used) that attendees must read beforehand. (At Amazon, meetings often begin with silent reading of a prepared doc instead of slides, to ensure everyone is informed – writing out plans clarifies thinking.
  • Agenda Topics: Structured by time blocks, e.g. “10:00-10:30 – Review OKR outcomes from last quarter”, “10:30-11:15 – Brainstorm new donor acquisition strategies (PR/FAQ for each idea)”, “11:15-11:30 – Decisions and OKR draft for next quarter.” Use Amazon’s PR/FAQ approach during brainstorming: for each major initiative, someone presents a brief “press release” as if the idea is already implemented, followed by FAQs. This keeps the discussion anchored to how the plan benefits the customer/donor.
  • SWOT & Data Review: A section to review the SWOT analysis or any market/customer research that informs strategy.
  • Outcomes: Clearly list the decisions made (e.g. selected initiatives for Q3) and any draft OKRs or owner assignments coming out of the meeting.

All-Hands Meeting

For monthly or quarterly all-company meetings to foster alignment and culture. Record the meeting or publish notes immediately in the all-hands Notion page. All-hands templates reinforce shared reality – everyone gets the same information, fostering trust. Leaders should explicitly link updates to customer impact or donor value, exhibiting “leaders obsess over customers” in action.

  • Customer Obsession Moment: A slot to share a powerful donor story or a testimonial. This keeps customer (donor) focus front and center, aligning with Amazon’s principle that leaders always begin with the customer.
  • Company Updates: High-level updates from executives – key wins, progress on company OKRs, financial health, any pivots in strategy. Keep these concise and tie them to the mission (e.g. “Our new donor portal increased repeat donations by 20%, helping us serve 500 more beneficiaries last quarter.”).
  • Team Spotlights: Recognize teams or individuals (e.g. a fundraiser who secured a major grant) to celebrate success and reinforce desired behaviors.
  • Q&A: An open Q&A session (moderated through a Notion form or pre-submitted questions) where employees at all levels can ask leadership anything. Document questions and answers in the Notion page for those who couldn’t attend. This reflects operational transparency, ensuring everyone understands decisions and can voice concerns.

Action Items/Follow-ups: Note any promises made (e.g.“We will publish the new donation policy FAQ next week”) so they can be tracked.

1:1 Meeting

A private Notion page for each manager-direct report pair, used for weekly one-on-one meetings. It’s a running doc that both parties can edit.

Keep 1:1s consistent (e.g. 30 minutes weekly) and focused on supporting the employee’s success. Avoid status updates that can be handled in team meetings or via docs; instead, use 1:1 for mentoring, solving problems, and ensuring the report is engaged. Both parties must contribute to the agenda. If one side isn’t adding topics, it might signal communication issues.

This template, when used well, becomes an ongoing journal of the employee’s progress and the manager’s support, and it should ultimately tie back to how the employee’s work is contributing to donor/customers and the mission.

  • Header: The employee’s key goals/OKRs and any development plans, kept at top for context. This ensures each conversation stays aligned with what the person is trying to achieve (big picture).
  • Ongoing Agenda Sections: Typically split into three parts each week:
    • 1) Employee’s topics – issues, ideas, or updates the direct report wants to discuss;
    • 2) Manager’s topics – feedback, coaching points, or questions for the employee;
    • 3) Follow-up on action items from last time. Both manager and report add items throughout the week
  • Feedback & Career Growth: A segment for periodic discussion about the employee’s growth, challenges, and feedback for the manager. This encourages a two-way feedback culture.
  • Notes & Actions: During the meeting, document decisions or advice given and list any to-dos (with owner and due date, which could be the manager or employee). The next 1:1 should start by checking off these items.