A serious
concern has been raised by the Minority Leader of the National Assembly, who
has claimed that the Assembly operates more or less “without a proper agenda”.
Most
members of the Assembly, he said, do not always know the agenda of meeting
before issues are tabled for discussion.
This
could be a serious hitch on the business operation of any entity or body,
because meetings or formal discussions that have no agenda are likely to be
less productive than ones that do.
An
agenda helps greatly in guiding the direction of a meeting. It guarantees a
structured and healthy meeting.
Creating
and circulating an agenda for a meeting ahead of time gives participants of any
entity or body an opportunity to prepare for the meeting.
It
also helps or enables participants to give the meeting organisers or planners
feedback about the direction of the meeting, as well as to make necessary input
or suggestion to the planned discussion topics.
“We
are working without agenda; we need an approved agenda that we will be working
on every day,” the minority leader reportedly said at the National Assembly
recently, adding: “Everyday members will go home without knowing what will be
the following day’s agenda.”
It
is essential that the agenda is made available to members of a body that meets
to decide very important matters of the country’s development, especially such
matters bordering on national issues.
When
members know which topics will be discussed at a forthcoming meeting, they are
given the opportunity to brainstorm, research and plan for those topics in
advance, to be able to make a meaningful contribution that would be of great
help to the nation.
It
is, therefore, of paramount importance that the agenda is always created and
circulated ahead of any important meeting of our parliamentary representatives.
“The
secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.”
John
C. Maxwell
