Working with Agenda Templates & Agendas

Created by Pat Crosscombe, Modified on Wed, 20 Dec, 2023 at 8:41 AM by Pat Crosscombe


Who can create Agenda Templates?


People with administrative privileges and recording secretaries can create and edit agenda templates.




1. From the meetings page - click on the Agenda Templates button.


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2. In the agenda templates area, Select a meeting type and template" from the drop-down. 




Meeting types


Meeting Type
Description
Regular
These meetings are attended by the board's directors, officers, managers and staff. 

They are usually held on a monthly basis could also be held more or less frequently. 
Meetings (without attendance) 
Meetings that do not need attendance, use quorum, motions or need approval. of the minutes. Minutes can be locked and prevent further editing. 

This meeting type can be used to add minutes before the organization joined BoardSpace or used for short informal meetings. 
Annual or Annual General 
These meetings are held once per year and attended by the condo owners or nonprofit or association members as well as the board of directors. 

Some functions that are available for regular meetings are not available for this meeting type. This includes motions and the calculation of quorum.
Special 
Special meetings are any meetings held during the year (other than the annual meeting) that are held for the owners or members.  


Some functions that are available for regular meetings are not available for this meeting type. This includes motions and the calculation of quorum.  


DO NOT USE for meetings where only the board of directors will be attending. 



A default template is provided. Update the default template or create an additional template(s) for your organization. 


Agenda Templates need to customized for each meeting. Any changes made to the agenda for a specific meeting are not saved unless the default template is updated.   


Note: A template must be created before a meeting is created if you want to use that agenda template for that meeting. 


More than one agenda template can be created. For example, if the board holds a meeting in between the monthly board meetings, for the purpose of discussing a single item, then a shorter and simpler agenda could be created.  



3. How to create the default agenda

Click on the orange + add item icon (bottom of page) to add a new template.


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The builder is a drag-and-drop tool.  


Use the orange Add item to add items. Drag up and drop where needed. Agenda item numbering automatically updates. 


Modules are added at the bottom and can be dragged into position. Numbering updates automatically.


Sub and sub-sub items can be added from the right-hand side "Add sub-item"



Module Type
Description
Call to Order
Call to order is required and is automatically added to every agenda.
Item
Adds items to agenda. Rename by editing in text box to the right. Add subitems by clicking on + sub item.
Agenda 
Using this item adds the agenda to the beginning of the minutes.
Approval of Agenda 

This module creates the motion to approve the agenda and includes a drop-down menu with the eligible voters.

This makes is faster to approve the agenda since the motion is already prepared. If there are comments regarding the agenda, they can be added in the text box.  

Past Minutes

Using this module approves any past minutes created using BoardSpace and converts them to a pdf that can't be edited. Any previous unapproved minutes will be added automatically. 

If using BoardSpace for the first time, the space is blank. Write in your motion to approve the minutes and the date of the meeting. 


Action Review
This module pulls all of the board's ongoing actions into a list. Each action item is a live link so that if you hover over the action and click you go to the main action list and can see the details, add comments, postpone or complete the action.
Next Meeting

A popup allows for creating a next meeting that automatically is added to the the meeting list.


Ongoing Items

Adjournment 

Adjournment is required and added automatically to every agenda.

Adding a second person for adjourning a meeting is optional.



More on module types 


Modules can be renamed by editing the fields on the right-hand side. 


See the following example.  


  • Call to order to Start Meetings.  
  • Past Minutes to Approval of Past Minutes.  
  • Action Review to To-do List Follow-up. 
  • Item  - Committee Reports.  


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Remember to "Save".

 

Agenda templates can be updated from the minutes or from the agenda (note - agenda templates and agenda are different.)


Updating an agenda template from a agenda. 


1. The default template was created and then applied to a meeting. In the process of preparing for the meeting, changes were made to the agenda that the secretary wanted to keep use in a subsequent meeting. 


Click on Templates, select appropriate template from the drop-down menu and click Save to update the selected template. 


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Popup from above

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A new template could also be created as there is an option to Add new template


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Also, look at,


Using the Agenda Builder




Updated December 2023 (link to help & Guides) 

 

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