Send an agenda before a meeting and don't hold meetings without one; stand up for the meeting if you can

High value
Evidence B
Saves time
Free
Takes minutes
No willpower

In plain words

People are more likely to find a meeting useful if an agenda was sent beforehand. In an experiment, meetings held sitting down ran 34% longer than meetings held standing up, and the decisions made were no better or worse either way.

Cost: Free. The organizer spends 5 to 10 minutes writing an agenda before the meeting. Standing meetings need the attendees to go along.
What you get: Two surveys had 958 people and 292 people. The result: attendees were more likely to find a meeting effective if an agenda was sent beforehand, and the relationship holds up statistically. In another experiment, 55 groups met sitting down and 56 met standing up, and the sitting meetings ran 34% longer. The decisions from the two ways of meeting did not differ in quality.
Notes: The standing-meeting experiment used a lab task done by groups of 5 people. Its conclusion cannot be copied to long meetings or large conferences. Leach measured how effective attendees themselves felt the meeting was, not how much work actually got done.
Evidence grade: B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.
Sources: Leach, D. J., Rogelberg, S. G., Warr, P. B., & Burnfield, J. L. (2009). Perceived meeting effectiveness: The role of design characteristics. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24(1), 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-009-9092-6
Bluedorn, A. C., Turban, D. B., & Love, M. S. (1999). The effects of stand-up and sit-down meeting formats on meeting outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(2). https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.84.2.277

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 4, tip 5. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer