Minutes taker

The desired outcome is that a minutes taker is selected.

• Ideally, determine in advance who will take minutes.

Quorum

The desired outcome is that the chair has reminded the meeting participants what the quorum requirements are and has determined whether a quorum has been achieved.

• A quorum is not required to meet.

• A quorum is required to conduct business (topics that require a vote).

• See Quorum Requirements Table

Agenda

The desired outcome is that the meeting participants agree to the agenda, adjusting first it as required.

• This topic is important as a mechanism to encourage participants to stick to the agenda.

Prior unapproved meeting minutes

The desired outcome is that the working group has approved all unapproved meeting minutes.

• A quorum is required.

Outstanding tasks

The desired outcome is that the meeting participants understand the status of all tasks outstanding as of the end of the previous meeting.

• Be careful that this topic does not turn into a opportunity for taking tangents. Stick to brief updates.

• Do not address tasks that are addressed in a main topic.

Matters arising

The desired outcome is that the meeting participants have an opportunity to raise new business.

• This topic is useful as a mechanism for deferring any new topics raised earlier in the meeting.

Tasks assigned during meeting

The desired outcome is that the meeting participants are reminded of tasks assigned during the meeting and alert the minutes taker to any missing tasks.

• This should go quickly.

• It is not an opportunity for further discussion.

Meeting schedule

The desired outcome is that each meeting participant understands the meeting schedule.

Adjournment

The desired outcome is that the meeting is adjourned.

• A motion is not required to adjourn the meeting.

Topic name

• 2021 draft budget

• Website Portuguese language support

• The topic should generally be a noun/subject, not an action or outcome.

Topic purpose

• Decide

• Plan

• Discuss

• Inform

Each main topic shall be assigned one of the following four topic purposes:

1. DECIDE One or more predetermined decisions need to be made, which require a quorum to be present and a vote taken. Generally a motion will be drafted before the meeting and present in the minutes with placeholders for mover and seconder.

2. PLAN One or more decisions need to be made that don’t require a quorum or a vote.

3. DISCUSS No decisions or planning are envisioned. Just a discussion.

4. INFORM The topic leader will inform the rest of the team about the topic in accordance with the desired outcome. No decisions, planning, or discussions are envisioned beyond a couple of clarifying or elaborative questions.

The applicable Confluence status indicator (the color-coded labels shown above) shall be placed after the topic name in the agenda. The reason for this is to help meeting agenda / minutes reviewers to quickly identify topics that may interest them. This exercise may, along with composing the desired outcome, help the agenda composer think through the purpose of each agenda topic.

Leader

• Chair

• Standards Committee Liaison

• Chest Nimitz

• Each topic must be led by somebody.

• The person may be identified by role or by name.

Desired outcome

• It is important to start this topic item with “The desired outcome is…” The reason is that meeting planners tend to address action (e.g., “discuss”) rather than outcome.

• Meeting planners will often complain that specifying desired outcome is difficult. The more difficult, the more reason to specify it.

• If the desired outcome is not compelling or important, then remove the topic from the agenda.

Pre-meeting notes and references

• A link to prior meeting minutes

• A link to a proposal

• Discussion points

• Links to references

• Almost anything goes here.

• Do as much work as possible in preparation for the meeting, leaving the minutes to address what happened during the meeting.

Minutes

• Vote outcomes

• Key points

• Generally leave this blank until minutes are taken.

• DO NOT put pre-meeting notes or references in the minutes section.

• Pre-populate with templated content (e.g., vote information, adjournment)