Meetings

Meetings are very important for the work of any business or organisation. They allow for collective decision making, planning and follow-up, accountability, democracy and other practices that help build a good organisation.

Planning a meeting should include the following:

Notification

It is the executive’s responsibility to ensure that everyone has been notified of the date, time and venue of the meeting, as well as the main issues to be discussed. For many organisations it is a useful practice to always have their meetings on the same day and at the same time in the same place, for example on the first Tuesday of every month in the board room.

Preparing the Agenda

The agenda is a list of the most important issues for the members to discuss. It is drawn from the “Matters Arising” from the previous meeting and from the discussion of the Executive. The agenda is the responsibility of the chairperson and the scribe. The chairperson should read the minutes of the previous meeting to familiarise them with the issues. This will form the basis of a list of matters arising from these minutes. Matters arising include:

• Task allocated at the previous meeting – a report back must be given.
• Matters for which further information was required for discussion.
• Matters that where deferred to this meeting.

These are standard items for any agenda. These items should be arranged in order of priority and time should be allocated for each discussion. Where possible, try to familiarise yourself with each area of discussion. An agenda must include a last item known as “General” or “Any” other business to allow individuals to raise short items not included on the agenda.

Keeping the Minutes

The minutes is the most important document of the meeting and this includes all issues discussed and their outcomes. Keeping the minutes is the responsibility of the administrator. Minutes must be an accurate reproduction of the meeting. Minutes should include the following:

• Date, time and venue.
• Opening statement.
• Welcome note.
• Reading of previous minutes.
• Matters arising from the minutes.
• Correspondence.
• Other items on the agenda.
• General.
• Time of closure.