Agendas

The agenda of a meeting is an order of events for the meeting. It usually includes discussion, presentations and announcements. It is based on the meeting's order of business, which can be in the form of a template from which new agendas are started.

Collecting agenda items for the next meeting can begin as soon as the close of the previous meeting. Some items may be deferred to the next meeting. Others may be submitted by voting members of the meeting body after the previous meeting ended but before the following meeting is scheduled. In any case, until the meeting for which the agenda is made begins, it is just a proposal.

The meeting secretary is responsible for coordinating the collection of agenda items prior to the meeting. This can be mostly effortless if a wiki web site or other automated means of self-service agenda submission is available to the meeting body's members. However, if any member is unable or for any reason unwilling to use the automated system provided and no other member comes to their aid, the final responsibility to enter any requested agenda items into the system still falls upon the secretary.

Only members of the meeting body have the right to add items to the agenda. However, requests by non-members may be added by any member who chooses to help.

Until the agenda is adopted at the meeting, it is just a proposal. One of the first items in the order of business must be discussion and adoption of the agenda. Items may be added, removed and rearranged by simple majority vote. The resulting agenda, once adopted is considered the property of the meeting. Items submitted by a member are not owned by that member, and cannot be unilaterally withdrawn from an accepted agenda. That requires an amendment of the agenda.

Amendment of an agenda prior to its adoption is always by simple majority vote. After adoption of the agenda, a threshold no less than a simple majority and no more than a 2/3 majority may be set by the meeting body's own rules. If no amount is set, then a simple majority continues to be the threshold to amend the agenda after adoption. There are reasons to go either way with this decision. Robert's Rules and UBC's Simplified Rules use 2/3 to amend an agenda in order to enforce the group's claim on the proceedings. But this procedure prefers the philosophy that most decisions should be possible with a majority vote.

After adoption of the agenda, the meeting proceeds according to that plan. The agenda provides some necessary structure and formality. But it doesn't need to be done to the point of making the discussion stiff. For example, when each item is completed, it is not necessary to make a request to proceed to the next item. The group should just proceed to it. Though if there are any requests to modify the agenda, that is the time to make them. The Secretary will state the wording of the next item and enter it into the meeting chat so that it will be logged. Then discussion enters consensus building mode to consider that agenda item.