2. An agenda is a must!  Agendas are the guiding light and a process of checks for the committee.  A tentative agenda should have been established at the prior meeting, and the final agenda distributed to all attendees in a timely manner prior to the scheduled meeting. 

The elements of an agenda:

• operational items such as: date, time, place, requested equipment, name of committee,
• participants identified both core members and invited guests,
• clearly stated purpose of today’s meeting,
• approval of last meeting's minutes,
• goals or agenda items to be accomplished at today’s meeting – members could be assigned goals for which they are responsible,
• information or other items that are to be brought to the meeting, and
• other business and assignments – a little time should be allowed for identification of issues.

3. Meeting minutes are another must!  The minutes provide a record of the business conducted, goals accomplished, and people who attended.  The minutes will provide a means of tracking the committee’s progress, and help to keep things on track.  A recorder who is not a member of the committee may be identified, or a recorder may be picked from the committee membership – this responsibility can be rotated between the members.  The minutes should be distributed to the committee in a timely manner prior to the next scheduled meeting, and should be agreed upon as the first order of business.