Joining a new board or a new committee is very exciting and members always start off keen to get down to business and make a difference. All that enthusiasm is best matched with a little for-knowledge, and one thing that can help keep the ball rolling is if even new members are familiar with common meeting terminology. Here is quick and easy guide to catch the new folk up on “committee-ese”.

Be aware of the chair. They run the meetings, keeping a pace that will help all matters get covered within the set meeting time. They are following the agenda, which is the plan or procedural list for the meeting. It has items in the order the committee will address them, and is created before the meeting often in order of importance in case time runs short.

General business includes the main matters of the meeting, and must be attended to at each meeting. Business cannot be properly attended to unless a certain number of board or committee members is present at any given meeting. A quorum is the exact number of committee members who must be present to conduct legitimate business. Often committees cannot make decisions if there is low attendance. If there is no votes being cast, members may have to reach a consensus on a matter before it can be said to be agreed on. This usually requires all members in attendance to agree on a course of action.

A proposed action is often referred to as a motion, and it usually needs to be presented to the committee by a mover, who delivers the initial request for the committee to decide upon. A seconder is a member who, along with the mover believes the motion is a step in the right direction. These two individuals, along details of the decision reached, and any other information shared at the meeting should all be formally recorded in the meeting’s minutes. This is thorough record which makes it easy for anyone to look back on the contents of any meeting and see how much the committee has accomplished.

These are the basic terms that you will need to understand now that you are a volunteer member of the board.  They are the most commonly used terms and if you know what they mean, it will make your experience a lot easier to manage.