Project Meeting Agenda Templates

Projects run on meetings: a kickoff to start, regular status meetings to keep work on track, reviews to check quality and progress, and a retrospective at the end. Each of these needs a different agenda, and using the wrong one is how project meetings turn into long, unfocused status reports.

On this page you’ll find 14 free project meeting agenda templates in Microsoft Word, a sample project status meeting agenda, agenda outlines for every phase of a project, and formats for project team, project manager and steering committee meetings.

Free project meeting agenda templates

Templates for project status meetings, project team meetings, planning and scope sessions, reviews, retrospectives and remote project meetings. All are free to download and edit in Word or Google Docs.

Project status meeting agenda example

Here is a 50-minute weekly status meeting for a website redesign project. It opens with the overall status, spends most of its time on risks and one decision, and ends with the plan for the next two weeks. Workstream leads update the task board before the meeting, so progress reports stay short.

The status line uses a simple red, amber, green (RAG) rating, so everyone can see the health of the project at a glance before the details.

What to include in a project meeting agenda

1. Meeting details. Project name, meeting type, date, time, location or link, facilitator and note-taker.
2. Objective. What the meeting must achieve, written as a decision or outcome where possible.
3. Overall status. Schedule, budget and scope, often shown as red, amber or green.
4. Previous action items. What was completed and what is still open.
5. Progress. Work completed and milestones reached since the last meeting.
6. Risks and issues. New or growing risks, current issues and who owns them.
7. Decisions and change requests. Anything that needs approval from the team, sponsor or client.
8. Upcoming work. Tasks and deadlines for the next one to two weeks.
9. Action items and next meeting. Owners, due dates and the date of the next meeting.

Red, amber, green (RAG) status

Many project managers rate schedule, budget and scope using RAG status. It keeps status updates short and puts attention where it’s needed.

Project meeting agendas by project phase

Every phase of a project has a different goal, so the agenda should change as the project moves forward.

1. Initiation: kickoff meeting

Starts the project and aligns everyone on goals, scope and roles. See our full project kickoff meeting agenda guide and templates.

1. Introductions and project background
2. Goals, scope and success criteria
3. Timeline and milestones
4. Roles and responsibilities
5. Communication plan and next steps

2. Planning: project planning meeting

Turns the goals into a workable plan.

1. Confirm scope and deliverables
2. Break the work into tasks
3. Estimates, resources and budget
4. Schedule, milestones and dependencies
5. Risk register and response plans
6. Tools, reporting and approval process

3. Execution: status meetings

Weekly or every two weeks, to track progress and remove blockers.

1. Overall RAG status
2. Previous action items
3. Progress and completed deliverables
4. Blockers, risks and issues
5. Decisions and change requests
6. Plan for the next period

4. Monitoring: project review meeting

A deeper check on performance, often monthly or at each milestone.

1. Schedule and budget against the baseline
2. Quality and testing results
3. Change requests and their impact
4. Risk review and mitigation progress
5. Stakeholder and client feedback
6. Corrective actions

5. Closure: project retrospective

Held at the end of the project, or of each phase or sprint, to capture lessons.

1. Results against the original goals
2. What went well
3. What didn’t go well and why
4. Lessons and changes for future projects
5. Handover, documentation and sign-off
6. Thanks and recognition

Other project meeting agendas

Project team meeting agenda

A working meeting for the people doing the project work, focused on tasks and coordination rather than reporting to stakeholders.

1. Wins and completed tasks
2. Tasks in progress and anyone who is blocked
3. Handoffs and dependencies between team members
4. Upcoming deadlines
5. Questions and action items

Project managers’ meeting agenda

A meeting of project managers, often run by a project management office (PMO), to coordinate across several projects.

1. RAG status for each project
2. Shared resources and conflicts between projects
3. Risks and issues that need escalation
4. Upcoming milestones across the portfolio
5. Process, templates and lessons learned
6. Action items

Steering committee meeting agenda

For the sponsor and senior stakeholders who oversee the project and make major decisions, usually monthly.

1. Project status summary
2. Progress against milestones and budget
3. Key risks and issues
4. Decisions and approvals needed
5. Changes to scope, budget or timeline
6. Next steps

Remote project meeting agenda

For distributed teams working across locations and time zones.

1. Quick check-in round
2. Review of written updates posted before the call
3. Risks, blockers and questions
4. Decisions needed
5. Action items posted in the project channel

Tips for better project meetings

• Write objectives as decisions. “Decide on the revised Phase 2 timeline” is better than “Timeline discussion”.
• Put high-impact items first. Risks, decisions and blockers need attention while people are fresh.
• Give every item an owner and a time. Owners come prepared, and time limits keep the meeting moving.
• Move status reports into writing. Ask for updates in the task board or a short report before the meeting.
• Send the agenda and pre-reads 24–48 hours ahead. Link to reports, designs or dashboards people should review.
• Use a parking lot. Note off-topic issues and schedule them for later instead of letting them derail the meeting.
• Keep a decision log and action list. Use a meeting minutes template and start every meeting by reviewing open actions.

Related meeting agenda templates

You may also need a project kickoff meeting agenda, weekly meeting agenda, team meeting agenda, management meeting agenda or meeting minutes templates. Or browse all meeting agenda templates.