Executive Meetings
Agendas
It’s important to have an agenda before a meeting, because this means you won’t forget anything important in your meeting. It also helps the meeting have a good flow, and will make it faster, and will mean you don’t end up talking in circles. They should be very brief and should include:
- Acknowledgement of Country
- The item of business
- This just means the topic of what you will discuss
- The type of item (is it going to be a discussion, a motion or a report)
- Report: this is where one person will give an update on what they’ve been up to since the last meeting. All members of the executive should give a report.
- Discussion: this is just a group brain-storm on a topic.
- Motion: is a vote for or against an item, such as spending money, holding an event, or changing policy. Your constitution might say which decisions have to be passed as motions.
- An agenda should also list the person who is going to talk the most during that item.
Example Agenda: Crayon Appreciation Society Executive Meeting 8/10/2024
| Item # | Item | Type | Discussion Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acknowledgement of Country | President | |
| 2 | President’s report | Report | President |
| 3 | Secretary’s report | Report | Secretary |
| 4 | Treasurer’s report | Report | Treasurer |
| 5 | Motion to approve $120 of expenditure on a Crayon Appreciation Society Banner | Motion | Secretary |
| 6 | Motion to create a first Year Crayon Appreciation Representative | Motion | Secretary |
| 7 | Sustainable expenditure | Discussion | Treasurer |
| 8 | Executive workload and expectations | Discussion | President |
| 9 | Other business | N/A | Chair |
| 10 | Meeting close | N/A | Chair |
Minuting
Minutes are a record of the meeting, which are important so you can look back on what you said and decided at meetings. Normally the Secretary writes the minutes for the society. It’s useful to have good touch-typing skills if you are considering being a secretary, but if you can’t touch-type, don’t worry! The most important thing is to get down all the key points like motions passed and action items, even if you don’t write down who says what. Action items are things that need to be ‘actioned’ or completed before the next meeting.
Example: Extract from President’s Report Minutes
Crayon Appreciation Society Executive Meeting 8/10/2024
Item 2: President’s Report (Discussion Leader: President)
- 2.1. Have been working on organising the first Crayon Society Social Drawing Event, and have organised a venue and completed a Functions on Campus Form. Will buy stationary for the event this week.
- Action item for President to buy Stationary
- 2.2. Re-affiliation to ANUSA has been officially approved!
- 2.3. Will be working with the Treasurer to plan a Crayon Appreciation Ball - hoping to hold this at Old Parliament House.
- Treasurer: would Dining Society be interested in a potential Crayon Appreciation Dinner?
- President: good idea, will reach out to them.
Motion to accept President’s report
- Mover: President
- Seconder: Secretary
- Passes unanimously
Chairing
Chairing just means that you run the meeting. In executive meetings it’s nice to let discussions flow, because if meetings are too formal they can be a bit stilted. But, some good tips are:
- Stick to the agenda, and make it clear when moving to a new item.
- Summarise the conclusion of the discussion of each item when this is finished.
- Make sure everyone has a chance to speak, and make sure people aren’t interrupted.
- This can be done by taking a speaking list, calling on speakers individually, giving people time limits to speak, add in a specific time for questions.