Meeting agendas and minutes

Open the meeting. Under Agenda, add the standard items in one click (Apologies, Declarations of interest, Minutes of the last meeting, Matters arising, Any other business, Date of next meeting), or type your own and Add item. Use the arrows to reorder.

Open an item with the pencil to add notes, a presenter and the time allowed, and to add papers: drag files onto the upload box, or link a document already in Scout Suite.

Copy agenda from the last meeting brings its items across, any items deferred last time, and a Matters arising item with the open actions. Save template keeps the agenda for next time, and you can start a new meeting from a template.

Under Invitees, add people by role, by section team, one by one, or by email for people outside Scout Suite.

You don't need an agenda to invite people. Send invite emails the date, time and place (or the link to join), with a calendar invite and the reply buttons. Online meetings' Send call invites puts people on the same list.

When the agenda is ready, Send agenda emails each person the agenda as they're allowed to see it. Anyone already invited is told The agenda for the meeting is ready, and their calendar invite is updated rather than added again.

Every email says how the minutes will be made, and, when the meeting is being recorded, that it will be recorded.

Change the agenda and send again: the email says Updated agenda and the calendar invite updates the one people already have.

People can reply Attending, Apologies or Not sure from the email without signing in. Apologies show under the Apologies item. Fill attendance from invitees adds everyone except apologies to the attendance list, which you can then correct.

The agenda panel shows on the meeting page for in-person meetings and beside the call in the meeting room. Start the agenda, then Next item as you go; the current item is highlighted for everyone.

Anything added during the meeting, such as an extra item under Any other business, is marked Added at the meeting.

The Minutes card has a place for each item's minutes, decisions and actions (with an owner and a due date). Anyone who can manage meetings can edit them until they're signed off. If someone is typing them, choose Who's taking the minutes; the email says Minutes by them.

Mark an item Deferred to the next meeting or Not discussed. Deferred items come forward to the next meeting's agenda.

Declarations of interest: record who declared what, and on which item. Minutes of the last meeting: Approved as a true record, or Approved with amendments with the amendments. Matters arising: give each open action an update, or mark it Done. Open actions keep coming back under Matters arising until they're done.

Download minutes gives them in agenda order with every item's minutes, decisions and actions. Sign off minutes signs off the whole set.