1. Schedule the meetings
Find a day and time that works for all or most participants. FINOS recommends that working groups and PMCs meet at least monthly.
Once you have a meeting time, contact the Foundation to schedule a recurring Webex meeting. (We don't recommend using other conference solutions as firewall restrictions may prevent members from joining.)
2. Prepare and circulate an agenda
Before each meeting, create an agenda (using the Meeting Minutes page template) listing the topics to be discussed and decisions to be made at the meeting, and circulate the agenda on the group's mailing list.
See this sample agenda for an example.
3. Keep minutes
The minutes of each meeting should capture all of the following:
- Roll call - everyone who attended the meeting
- For each agenda item:
- A brief summary of the matter discussed (one sentence is often enough)
- Any significant positions/proposals put forward (one sentence each is often enough)
- A record of any decisions made or actions taken, including a record of the vote (i.e. votes in favor, votes against, and abstentions)
- Any action items assigned, including the assignee and the deadline (if any)
Minutes should not:
- Attribute any statement to an individual or organization without their express prior approval. This is to ensure that people feel free to speak candidly.
- Include an exhaustive transcript of everything said during the meeting. This is to ensure that the important parts are easy to find.
After the meeting, circulate minutes to the group. This is typically done by updating the wiki page with the meeting agenda, as in these example meeting minutes.
4. Call votes as needed
If any item on the agenda requires a decision by the group, hold a vote. Consult the Program Operations Policy for any program-specific voting rules. If the program uses the default POP, you can follow the Foundation's recommended voting procedure.
The default POP does not require a particular quorum for voting at working group meetings. However, if a meeting is lightly attended, consider holding any votes that are discussed via email after circulating the meeting minutes, to give everyone an opportunity to participate.