Curtis looks over my shoulder, glancing at my notes. “Can I get a copy of that, when the meeting breaks up?” I worked my way through college selling copies of my lecture notes to other classmates. In most meetings today, I could make beer money doing the same thing.

My notes are not to help remember what happened today, but notes to help create the future. My notes are my Next Agenda.

As the discussion unfurls, decisions occur and assignments are made. My Next Agenda records the assignment and the person responsible. I use my Next Agenda as a real-time delegation tool. Here is the leverage point. The most important decision on my Next Agenda is NOT “how” the assignment will be completed, but “who” is going to complete the assignment.

Managers continually get wrapped around the axle trying to figure out “how” to get things done. The most important role of the Manager is to decide “who.” Take a look at the notes from your last meeting. Do they meet the Next Agenda “who” criteria? -TF

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