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Appendix A: Policy and Procedure for Organising Meetings

The Lollipop Shop
Policy and procedure for organising and conducting meetings

Policy

Meetings are organised in order to achieve its desired outcomes. Meetings should be conducted in
manner that maximise meeting outcomes and does not waste employee time.

Definitions

The meeting chairperson is the person who will chair the meeting.

The meeting organiser is the employee responsible for organising the meeting. If it is a regular
meeting, this may be Administration Officer. If it is a special meeting, it may be another staff
member or the Administration Officer on their behalf.

A quorum is the minimum number of participants required for a meeting to reach decisions
(usually half the number invited to the meeting, plus one).

A Formal Meeting follows set meeting procedures that are not always used for informal
meetings. The following three types of meetings are formal:
Annual General Meetings
Manager’s Meetings

Formal meetings have:

An Agenda
A Notice of Meeting
Motions are put, discussed and voted on following certain rules
Proposers and Seconders of motions have their names recorded in the minutes.
Structured Minutes are taken.

Informal Meetings:
do not necessarily follow all the rules of formal meetings, though they usually have the
same documentation, such as an agenda and minutes.
are Team meetings, staff get-togethers for managing the organisation and making
decisions.
do not need to have motions put forward and voted upon - these may be information
sharing or reporting meetings.
may make decisions informally, with these recorded in the minutes, but not necessarily a
proposer or seconder.

The minute taker is the person responsible for recording meeting actions and preparing the
Minutes of Meeting.

A stakeholder is a person who may be interested in the meeting’s outcomes.

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An action is a task which should be completed by one of the meeting participants as a result of
meeting discussions.

Apologies are notifications from meeting participants indicating that they are unable to attend
the meeting.

A motion is a formal proposal made by a meeting participant.

Procedure

Responsibilities of meeting organiser:

Discuss the purpose of the meeting - who will be invited (participants) and the date, time and
venue (where the meeting will be held) with the meeting chairperson.
Book the meeting room (venue).
Distribute a Notice of Meeting to meeting participants with an Agenda Items Request.
Arrange catering, if necessary.
Check suitability of meeting room equipment and seating.
Confirm the meeting arrangements with the meeting chairperson.
Prepare and distribute the Agenda and other documentation, which may be discussed at the
meeting.
Note any apologies from participants.
Check that a quorum will be present.
Prepare the chairperson’s folder for the meeting.
Set up the meeting room before the meeting.
Organise for someone to take the Minutes of Meeting.
Leave the meeting room and equipment in good order after the meeting.
Check that the Minutes of Meeting are prepared and presented to the meeting chairperson for
approval.
Distribute the Minutes of Meeting.
Follow legal and ethical requirements when planning and conducting a meeting, for example:
WHS – conducting a safety check of the venue
Anti-discrimination – using inclusive language, ensuring meeting is accessible for all
participants
Fair Work – ensuring out-of-hours meetings are considered as paid work time,
Privacy – ensuring that consent is obtained to share contact information with other meeting
members

Discussions with the meeting chairperson

The meeting organiser should discuss the following with the meeting chairperson:
purpose of the meeting
names of the participants and their contact details, if external to the organisation
date, time and venue
special requirements for the meeting venue, e.g. whiteboard
catering requirements, if any
pre-meeting reading material which should be prepared for distribution
teleconferencing arrangements, if applicable.

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The meeting chairperson must approve all meeting arrangements and documents before the
meeting organiser takes action.

Meeting venue

Responsibilities of meeting organiser

Book the meeting room through the Administration Officer.

Responsibilities of administration officer:

Advise the meeting organiser if the meeting room is available.
Enter the booking in the Meeting Room Booking Register to reserve the room for the meeting.

Notice of meeting

Responsibilities of meeting organiser:

Ask the meeting chairperson to sign the Notice of Meeting.
Distribute the notice to all participants as early as possible before each meeting by
email.
If external participants do not have email facilities, post the Notice of Meeting or fax it
if timeframes are short.
The Notice of Meeting should detail:
purpose of meeting
date and time
venue
documents which participants must bring to the meeting
whether catering is provided.
Forward an Agenda Item Request with the Notice of Meeting so that participants can notify
you of the items they want included in the Agenda.
If meeting participants are external to the organisation, advise the Administration Officer of the
participants’ names and the starting time and duration of the meeting.

Responsibilities of administration officer:

Record the names of external meeting participants in the Appointments Diary.

Noting participant apologies

Responsibilities of meeting organiser:

Note any apologies from participants and bring these to the attention of the meeting
chairperson.
Ensure there will be a quorum present.
If a quorum is not present, talk to the chairperson about cancelling the meeting.

Checking the meeting venue

Responsibilities of meeting organiser:

Check the booking for the meeting room with the Administration Officer before setting up the
room so that others using the room are not disturbed.

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Arrange chairs and tables to suit the format of the meeting.

Check all meeting room equipment is in working order.
Hire and install any special equipment if necessary.
Follow workplace health and safety procedures when shifting and checking furniture and
equipment.
Organise the cleaning of the meeting room at the end of the meeting.

Providing information about transport suppliers

Responsibilities of meeting organiser

Provide maps, coordinates of venue
Provide details of modes of public transport, such as buses, trains, trams
Provide details of public parking spaces/ reserved spaces
Provide approximate costs of modes of transport/ parking spaces

Preparing and distributing the Agenda and other documentation

Responsibilities of meeting organiser:

Forward an Agenda Items Request with the Notice of Meeting to participants as soon as
possible before the meeting. (Participants should forward any agenda items by a specified
date.)
Use the template for the Agenda.
Check the following from the previous Minutes of Meeting for the Business Arising section of
the Agenda:
items held over
action items
Confirm the Agenda with the meeting chairperson.
Forward it to meeting participants as soon as possible before the meeting.
If directed by the meeting chairperson, prepare and copy pre-meeting reading material and send
it with the Agenda.
Prepare additional copies of the Agenda, Minutes of the previous meeting and pre-reading
material for participants who arrive at the meeting without these documents.

Organising for the Minutes of Meeting to be taken

Responsibilities of meeting organiser:

Organise for a person to take the Minutes of Meeting by making notes or typing notes directly
into a computer.
Meetings may be tape recorded; however prior approval of participants is required. A note
taker is also needed to made additional notes to help report the Minutes of Meeting, e.g.
identifying participants and speakers.
Provide the minute taker with an Agenda, the Minutes of the previous meeting and any other
documentation provided to meeting participants.

Teleconferences

Responsibilities of meeting organiser:

If the meeting chairperson decides that the meeting will be conducted by

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teleconference, make arrangements with the telephone company.

Arrangements include:
preparing a list of people and their telephone numbers
ensuring that a room and speaker phone (where required) is available and booked
ensuring that each person has received notification of the teleconference including, who else
will be participating and an agenda.

Catering arrangements

Catering guidelines are as follows:

Breakfast meetings Fresh fruit platter
Muffins or pastries
Fruit juice, tea, coffee

Morning or afternoon tea Assorted biscuits

Fruit juice, tea, coffee

Lunches Assorted sandwiches

Fresh fruit platter
Fruit juice, tea, coffee

Evening meetings Selection of light meals in accordance with meeting/

instructions
Fruit juice, tea, coffee

Responsibilities of meeting organiser:

Identify the preferred supplier by asking the Manager.
Complete a Catering Request and email it or hand deliver it to the Administration Officer.

Responsibilities of administration officer:

Ensure any special dietary arrangements are made prior to making any catering orders.
Confirm catering orders with the caterer at least 24 hours before the required date.
When the invoice arrives from the caterer, attach a copy of the Catering Request to it.
The invoice can then be processed for payment in accordance with the organisation’s standard
financial procedures.

Schedule of regular organisation meetings

Meeting Date Time Notes for catering

Management Third Monday of the month 6.30 – 8.30 pm Tea, coffee and light
Committee Refreshments

Staff Each Monday 9.00 am – 10.00 am Tea and coffee

Program Fortnightly 11.00 am – 12.00 noon Catering not provided

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Cleaning up after the meeting

Responsibilities of meeting organiser:

Return the furniture in the meeting room to its normal position.
Ensure all equipment is in working order.
Return any borrowed or hired equipment.
Clean up the meeting room, if necessary.
Arrange for the caterer to collect equipment, trays and other supplies, if necessary.
Conducting Meetings

Procedure

Responsibilities of meeting chairperson:

Ensure there are enough people at the meeting to make a quorum.
Run the meeting according to the order of items on the Agenda.
Ensure all participants are given an opportunity to contribute.
Encourage open and constructive discussion.
Discourage destructive discussion.
Ensure all or most Agenda items are covered.
Close the meeting.
Check and sign the Minutes of Meeting.

Minutes of Meeting

Minutes of Meeting accurately reflect discussions and decisions and are distributed in a timely
manner.
The minute taker must provide an accurate record of the participants, apologies, motions,
actions and important points raised at the meeting in the Minutes of Meeting.
The template for the Minutes of Meeting should be used.
The Chairperson must approve the Minutes of Meeting before they are distributed.

Taking Minutes of Meeting

Record the Minutes of Meeting by:

taking notes
typing directly into the computer
tape recording. Ask meeting participants for their approval before taping any discussion.

Make notes of:

people present (tick off on copy of previous Minutes of Meeting)
apologies
amendments to previous Minutes of Meeting
major discussion points and decisions made
actions to be taken and/or motions passed.

Preparing draft Minutes of Meeting

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The minute taker usually prepares the Minutes of Meeting.

The Minutes of Meeting should provide an accurate record of:
participants
apologies
important points raised at the meeting
motions
actions
Prepare Minutes of Meeting as soon as possible after the meeting.
Use the Agenda and previous Minutes of Meeting to assist in the preparation.
Use the Minutes of Meeting template.
Follow format and numbering (if applicable) from the Agenda.
Use headings.
Use the past tense because the meeting has taken place.
For example, ‘<Participant name> advised that . . .’
Do not include first pronouns, such as ‘we’ and ‘our’. Use the passive voice.
For example, ‘A letter was received from Alpha Insurance about the details of the new policy’;
NOT ‘We received a letter from Alpha Insurance about the details of the new policy’.
Action items should be specific. List:
what needs to be done
who is responsible
when the task needs to be done.
For example: Action: Jenny to make enquiries about new stationery supplier and provide
information to next meeting.
The exact wording of motions should be shown, including the names of movers and seconders.
Proofread carefully.

Obtaining approval for Minutes of Meeting

Provide copy of draft Minutes of Meeting to Chairperson.

Amend Minutes of Meeting as directed by Chairperson.
Submit Minutes of Meeting for Chairperson’s final approval and signature.
Distribute the Minutes of Meeting to those who attended the meeting and those who sent
apologies.

Distribution of Minutes of Meeting

The Minutes of Meeting should be distributed within a week of the meeting (unless the meeting
agrees on another date) to:
all meeting participants
those who have sent apologies
other identified stakeholders.

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