| A client recently
asked me this question: "On our meeting agendas
we always have 'Business arising from the minutes'. When we get to it,
the chair asks 'Is there any business arising from the minutes?' Some
members use the occasion to re-visit decisions they don't like. This
often takes time away from other agenda items and they do not receive
the attention they deserve. What can we do about this?"
The answer is that there is no provision for "business arising
from the minutes" in the rules books I've read. More significantly,
it makes no sense to have such an agenda item, so you may as well drop
it. Suffering is optional, and the group should not be tyrannized in
the manner you described.
Meetings are expensive,
and every minute should be used in a manner that delivers value, or ROI
(Return On Investment). Time should be allocated to issues based on their
importance and readiness for discussion and decision-making. Pre-scheduled
issues should be dealt with first. Re-visiting previous decisions
under the pretext of "Business arising from the minutes", at
the expense of issues for which time was budgeted, is unfair and unreasonable.
With this in mind, your group should not have "Business arising from
the minutes" on its agendas.
So what should you do instead of calling for "Business arising from
the minutes?" There are four possibilities:
- Follow-up needed: If the minutes indicate that an issue was referred
to a committee and the committee is ready to report, schedule this
item on the agenda under "Committee reports". If a member
raises this issue after the minutes were approved, you can say: "Thank
you. Follow up on this issue will be discussed under agenda item 3.3,
Education Committee report".
- Incomplete item: If the minutes indicate that an agenda item was
not concluded (due to a lack of time), schedule this item for completion
under "unfinished business", which usually precedes "New
business". Incidentally, the term used should be "unfinished
business" and not "old business".
An agenda item rarely has wrinkles and a white beard, so why call
it "old"?
- There is a desire to re-visit a previous decision: If someone does
not like a decision that was made at a previous meeting, he or she
can initiate this discussion under "New business", after
(and not before) other issues have been dealt with. It should be noted
that an adopted motion can only be re-visited if it has not been fully
implemented and it is indeed possible to modify or rescind it,
- There is a desire to re-visit a previous decision without
delay: If someone thinks a decision must be re-visited at
the start of the meeting, he or she can request (or move) that the
agenda be changed and that the issue be considered earlier than "new
business". The group, collectively, and not the individual, will
decide whether the agenda will be changed.
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