Decoding your first month

Government-style meeting minutes recording the key discussion, decisions and follow-up actions, often drafted by the meeting secretariat.

Also heard as: NOM, Notes of Meeting, meeting minutes

A senior committee that provides direction, resolves escalated issues and oversees a programme, project or workstream.

Also heard as: Steering Comm, Steering Com, Steer Comm, steering committee

A group formed to develop recommendations or deliver a defined piece of work, often reporting to a committee or sponsor.

Also heard as: Work Group, workgroup, working group

The agenda item near the end of a meeting for matters not listed as substantive items earlier in the agenda.

Also heard as: any other business

A specific follow-up task with an owner and, ideally, a due date arising from a discussion, decision or direction.

Also heard as: action point, follow-up action, AI

Context: AI is highly ambiguous and should only be used where the meeting context is clear.

A working list used by a secretariat or project team to track follow-up actions, owners, deadlines and completion status.

Also heard as: actions tracker, action log

A focused meeting between two parties, agencies, office-holders or delegations, often held alongside a larger engagement.

Also heard as: bilateral, bilateral meeting

A senior management or governance committee empowered to steer or decide specified organisational matters.

Also heard as: ExecCo, executive committee

Context: Membership and decision authority are organisation-specific.

A scheduled committee, board or leadership meeting at which an issue is discussed, steered, endorsed or decided.

Also heard as: approving forum, decision forum, management forum

Context: The forum's authority and purpose depend on its terms of reference.

An agency or department management committee used for leadership coordination, review or decisions.

Also heard as: Management Comm

Context: The name, expansion and authority vary by organisation.

The written record of a meeting, usually capturing decisions, directions, owners and follow-up actions; it may also be called NOMs or an ROD.

Also heard as: meeting minutes, minutes of meeting

A smaller briefing held before a formal forum so the chair or principal is prepared and material issues can be surfaced early.

Also heard as: prebrief, pre-meeting brief, pre meeting brief

A paper, deck or other material sent in advance so participants can review it before the discussion or decision.

Also heard as: pre read, preread, pre-reading material

The minimum number of members who must be present before a committee or board can validly conduct specified business.

Also heard as: meeting quorum

A short summary of what was discussed, agreed, directed or left open after a meeting, visit or engagement.

Also heard as: meeting readout, read-out

A concise record of the substance and outcomes of a discussion.

Also heard as: RODs, Records of Discussion, Record of Discussions

Context: The full phrase appears in government recruitment material, but use of ROD as a standard short form varies by agency.

A meeting between an officer and a manager above the officer's immediate supervisor, commonly used for engagement or feedback.

Also heard as: skip-level, skip-level meeting

Context: Informal usage varies by agency; outside this context, 'skip meeting' can simply mean not attending a meeting.

A senior leadership group used to coordinate strategy, people and organisational performance.

Also heard as: senior leadership team

Context: The label is not standardised across agencies and may overlap with SMT or ExCo.

The organisation’s senior management group, typically comprising its top office-holders and functional leaders.

Also heard as: senior management team

Context: Some organisations use SMT for different phrases or use another name for the equivalent group.

An informal small-group briefing for senior decision-makers, typically used to work through an issue before a larger or more formal forum.

Also heard as: small room brief, small-room brief

Context: Agency-specific shorthand; confirm the local meaning before treating it as a whole-of-government term.

To place an item, paper or proposal before a meeting or decision-making body for discussion, endorsement or approval.

Also heard as: tabled, tabling, table a paper

A group formed to address a specific problem, urgent issue or cross-functional objective.

Also heard as: taskforce, task force

The document defining a committee, workgroup or project’s purpose, scope, membership, authority, deliverables and operating arrangements.

Also heard as: terms of reference