Agenda (meeting)

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An agenda is a list of meeting activities in the order in which they are to be taken up, by beginning with the call to order and ending with adjournment. It usually includes one or more specific items of business to be discussed. It may, but is not required to, include specific times for one or more activities. An agenda may also be called a docket or schedule.

Etymology

Agenda is an abbreviation of agenda sunt or agendum est, gerundive forms in plural and singular respectively of the Latin verb ago, agere, egi, actum "to drive on, set in motion", for example of cattle.[1] The meaning is "(those things/that thing) which must be driven forward". What is now known in English as an agenda is a list of individual items which must be "acted upon" or processed, most usually those matters which must be discussed at a business meeting Although the Latin word is in a plural form, as a borrowed word in English the word is singular, and has a plural of "agendas"[citation needed]see Discussion. (See also: Memorandum, Addenda, Corrigenda)

Explanation

In business meetings of deliberative bodies, the agenda may also be known as the orders of the day. Optimally, the agenda is distributed to a meeting's participants prior to the meeting, so that they will be aware of the subjects to be discussed, and are able to prepare for the meeting accordingly.

In parliamentary procedure, an agenda is not binding upon an assembly unless its own rules make it so, or unless it has been adopted as the agenda for the meeting by majority vote at the start of the meeting. Otherwise, it is merely for the guidance of the chair.[2]

If an agenda is binding upon an assembly, and a specific time is listed for an item, that item cannot be taken up before that time, and must be taken up when that time arrives even if other business is pending. If it is desired to do otherwise, the rules can be suspended for that purpose.

In a workshop, the sequence of agenda items is important, as later agenda steps may be dependent upon information derived from or completion of earlier steps in the agenda. Frequently in standard meetings, agenda items may be "time boxed" or fixed so as not to exceed a predetermined amount of time. In workshops, time boxing may not be effective because completion of each agenda step may be critical to beginning the next step.

Typical layout of an agenda

A simple meeting agenda may be headed with the date, time and location of the meeting, followed by a series of points outlining the order of the agenda. Steps on any agenda can include any type of schedule or order the group wants to follow. Agendas may take different forms depending on the specific purpose of the group and may include the following items:

  • Opening ceremonies - Items may include invocation, singing of the national anthem, reciting of the pledge of allegiance, reading of the mission of the organization, recognition of dignitaries, etc.
  • Roll call (taking of attendance)
  • Review and adoption of the agenda
  • Reading and approval of the minutes
  • Consent calendar - tool used by deliberative assemblies with a heavy workload to consider a series of items in bulk with a single vote
  • Reports from officers, boards, and/or committees
  • Specific items of business scheduled for the meeting (such as an election or a program)
  • Unfinished business
  • New business — this section is where the bulk of the discussion as well as decisions in the meeting usually takes place
  • Other issues; allowing a participant to raise another point for discussion (also called Good of the order, General Good and Welfare, or Open Forum)
  • Announcements
  • Close meeting to include review of key points, discussion of assignments, communications plan for what to tell others not in the meeting, and confirmation of the next meeting, if any.

See also

References

  1. Cassell's Latin Dictionary, ed. nMarchant & Charles
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.