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Meeting Agenda
A strong meeting agenda – the plan for your meeting – is essential for successful meetings. Giving thought to the meeting agenda and arranging it with care will pay off when the meeting actually happens.
Meeting agendas are arranged according to the “order of business.” The order of business tells what things should happen first, then next, then last. Robert’s Rules of Order prescribes a definite order of business. For many boards, a more flexible order and agenda will work better.
Sometimes people get into power struggles about what goes on the meeting agenda. Under Robert’s Rules, it is the group that has final say over the meeting agenda, not the leader.
For a group that uses Robert’s Rules, this is the common pattern: the president or chair of the organization prepares a draft meeting agenda, often with the assistance of the secretary. At the beginning of the meeting, the group – board, council or committee – votes on adopting the meeting agenda. At that time, members can suggest changes – adding items, deleting them, or changing the order.
It takes a majority vote to make these changes and to adopt the meeting agenda. After that time, if members want to change the meeting agenda during the meeting itself, it will take a two-thirds vote.
Post your questions about meeting agendas to our blog, Robert’s Rules in Real Life.