Agendas & Templates

A well-structured agenda keeps meetings focused and productive. Pilotus makes it easy to create, manage, and reuse agendas with a guided wizard and template system.

Agenda Item Hierarchy

Agenda items follow a two-level hierarchy:

• Subjects — Top-level groupings (e.g., “Financial Review”, “Strategic Updates”)
• Topics — Individual items nested under a subject (e.g., “Q3 Budget Report” under “Financial Review”)

This structure helps organize complex agendas into logical sections.

Agenda Item Fields

Each agenda item has:

Field	Description
Title	What will be discussed
Type	Vote, Discussion, Information, Decision, or Action
Duration	Time allocated (in minutes)
Description	Context and background
Presenter	Who will lead this item
Links	Connected actions, decisions, or documents

Agenda Item Types

Vote

Vote — Formal voting required

Use for:

• Approving budgets
• Electing officers
• Ratifying policies

Records voting results and outcomes.

Discussion

Discussion — Open dialogue

Use for:

• Brainstorming sessions
• Problem-solving
• Input gathering

May or may not result in decisions.

Information

Information — Updates and reports

Use for:

• Status updates
• Presentations
• Announcements

No decision expected, just sharing information.

Decision

Decision — Choice required

Use for:

• Strategic direction choices
• Approval requests
• Go/no-go decisions

Results in a recorded decision.

Action

Action — Task review

Use for:

• Follow-up item reviews
• Progress updates on existing actions
• Assigning new tasks

Often links to existing actions.

Creating Agenda Items with the Wizard

The agenda item creation wizard guides you through a multi-step process:

1. Choose Item Type

   Select whether you’re creating a Subject (top-level) or a Topic (nested under a subject).

2. Select Parent Subject (topics only)

   If creating a topic, choose an existing subject to nest it under, or create a new one.

3. Set the Intent

   Choose the agenda type: Vote, Discussion, Information, Decision, or Action.

4. Enter Details

   • Enter a clear, specific title
   • Add a description if needed

5. Assign Presenter and Duration (topics only)

   • Select who will present this item
   • Set the time allocation in minutes

Tip

Use subjects to group related topics. For example, a “Standing Items” subject might contain topics like “Budget Update”, “Action Review”, and “Announcements”.

Reordering Agenda Items

Drag and drop agenda items to arrange them in the desired order. Both subjects and topics within subjects can be reordered independently.

Linking Items to Content

Agenda items can link to other entities for context:

Linking to Actions

1. Open the agenda item
2. Click “Add Link”
3. Select “Action”
4. Search and select the action
5. The action’s current status shows in the meeting

Linking to Decisions

1. Open the agenda item
2. Click “Add Link”
3. Select “Decision”
4. Choose a previous decision to review

Linking to Key Results

1. Open the agenda item
2. Click “Add Link”
3. Select “Key Result”
4. Link relevant OKR metrics

Linking to Documents

1. Open the agenda item
2. Click “Add Link”
3. Select “Document”
4. Attach relevant files

Tip

Linking items provides context for discussions and creates a historical record of what was discussed in each meeting.

Agenda Templates

Templates save time by letting you reuse common agenda structures. Templates are managed in the committee’s Settings tab.

Creating a Template

1. Open Settings

   Go to the committee’s Settings tab and find the Agenda Templates section.

2. Create New Template

   Click “Add Template” and give it a descriptive name.

3. Build the Structure

   Use the template editor to add subjects and topics with their hierarchy.

4. Save

   The template is now available when creating meetings.

Using a Template

1. Create a New Meeting

   Start setting up a new meeting using the creation wizard.

2. Apply Template

   When adding agenda items, select “Apply Template”.

3. Select Template

   Choose from available templates.

4. Customize

   Modify items as needed for this specific meeting.

Managing Templates

Access template management from the committee Settings tab:

• View Templates — See all saved templates
• Edit Templates — Modify template subjects and topics
• Delete Templates — Remove unused templates
• Duplicate Templates — Create variations

Template Ideas

Common templates to consider:

Template	Typical Items
Weekly Check-in	Review actions, blockers, upcoming priorities
Monthly Review	Progress report, KPI review, decisions, actions
Quarterly Planning	Results review, strategy discussion, goal setting
Board Meeting	Chair’s report, financial review, approvals, new business
Project Steering	Status update, risks, decisions needed, next steps

Best Practices

Agenda Structure

A typical effective agenda:

1. Opening (5 min) — Welcome, approve previous minutes
2. Standing Items (15 min) — Regular reports and updates
3. Main Business (30 min) — Key discussion/decision items
4. New Business (10 min) — Items raised by members
5. Action Review (10 min) — Review pending actions
6. Closing (5 min) — Confirm decisions, next meeting

Time Management

• Be realistic — Don’t cram too much in
• Build in buffer — Discussions often run over
• Prioritize — Put important items early when energy is high
• Timekeeper — Assign someone to track time

Effective Items

Good agenda items:

• Have clear purpose (what outcome is needed?)
• Include context (background information)
• Specify required preparation (read this document, review this data)
• Indicate decision-maker if applicable

Caution

Avoid vague items like “General Discussion” or “Any Other Business” without structure. They tend to expand and derail meetings.

Next Steps

• Managing Meetings — Full meeting lifecycle
• Decisions — Record meeting decisions
• Follow-ups — Track action items