Template

Committee meeting template

For any committee that has to decide things properly: minutes, reports, motions and votes, with a record at the end.

60 minutesFor Chairs and secretaries of clubs, societies and committeesAgenda room
Change the agenda first

The agenda, with a time for each part

  1. Welcome, apologies and who is present4 min
    • Are enough members here to decide?
  2. Minutes of the last meeting5 min
    • Are they accurate? Any corrections?
  3. Matters arising8 min
    • What did we say we would do, and was it done?
  4. Reports13 min
    • What does the committee need to decide, not just hear?
  5. Items for decision18 min
    • What exactly is proposed?
    • Who is for, against, abstaining?
  6. Any other business7 min
    • Is it urgent, or can it wait for next time's agenda?
  7. Date of the next meeting5 min
    • When, where, and who is sending the notice?

How the notes read afterwards

A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.

Present. Eight of eleven; apologies from three.

Matters arising. The hall is booked for June. The insurance quote is still outstanding — Lena chases it.

Decision. Raise the subscription to $40 from January. Agreed, seven to one.

Running it well

Ways to change it

Sub-committeeThirty minutes, one topic, and a recommendation to take back to the full committee.
Annual general meetingAdd the year's accounts, the chair's report and the election of officers.

When to skip it. If your rules say how often the committee meets, you cannot. If nothing needs deciding, make it short.

Questions

What is the standard agenda for a committee meeting?

Apologies, the last minutes, matters arising, reports, items for decision, any other business, and the date of the next meeting.

Who writes the minutes of a committee meeting?

The secretary, or whoever the chair asks at the start. They record decisions and who is doing what, not every word.

What happens in the room

Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.

More templates

Town hall meetingA public meeting where people who are affected ask the people who decide — with a fair turn for everybody.Book club meetingA book club evening that gets past “did you like it?” — with a turn for everybody and the next book chosen before people leave.Volunteer team meetingFor a team of volunteers: thanks first, then what is coming up, who can do what, and nothing that could have been a message.Office hoursPeople bring questions; you answer them live, and the answers are written down for next time.HOA board meetingFor a homeowners' association: the money, the repairs, residents' questions and the votes.PTA meetingParents and teachers, once a month: what the school needs, what is coming up, and who is helping.Parent-teacher conferenceTwenty minutes about one child: what is going well, what is hard, and what home and school will each do.Safety meeting (toolbox talk)Ten or fifteen minutes before work starts: one hazard, what happened lately, and what everybody does differently today.

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