The Public Service newbie guide

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

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

Also heard as: terms of reference

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

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

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.

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

Also heard as: NOMs, Notes of Meetings, Notes of Meeting, meeting minutes

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

An agenda item near the end of a meeting for raising matters that were not covered under the earlier items.

Also heard as: Any Other Matters, any other matter

Context: Used similarly to AOB, meaning Any Other Business; the preferred label varies by organisation.

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

Context: Membership and decision authority are organisation-specific.

A formal 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.

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

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 concise account given to bosses or colleagues who did not attend a meeting, visit or engagement, covering what was discussed, agreed, directed or left open.

Also heard as: readback, meeting read-back, readout, meeting readout

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.

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

A discussion-based exercise in which participants work through a simulated scenario to test plans, decisions and coordination.

Also heard as: table-top exercise, table top exercise