How to create a useful agenda for any type of meeting

You know you need an agenda. Here’s how to create one that works.

As the former CEO of five ventures and board member of dozens of others, Naeem Zafar has sat in his fair share of meetings. Zafar, a CEO coach who teaches entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, and Northeastern University, says ineffective meetings are a “pain point” for him. “My whole life is driven by efficiency,” he says. “Why do I have seven people sitting around the table? I’m talking to two of them. I’ve been trying to optimize it all my life.”