agm-in-a-box

AGM In A Box Skill

Every club and association has one meeting a year that legally/constitutionally

matters, and it's usually run by a volunteer who inherited a folder and a

sense of dread. A good AGM is mostly preparation: notice sent the right way at

the right time, an agenda where decisions are visible in advance, a chair's

script so the running of it isn't improvised, and minutes that record what was

decided — because in three years, when someone asks "when did we agree to

that?", the minutes are all that exists. This skill produces the whole box,

tuned to the organization's own constitution — which it asks for rather than

guessing.

What This Skill Produces

• The notice pack: announcement text with date/venue/deadlines, proxy/

nomination forms if used, timed to the constitution's notice period

• The agenda, decision-forward: what's being decided, reports as reading

not speeches, election slots, AOB rules

• The chair's script: opening, quorum check, how to take each item, how

to run a vote, handling the member with a grievance, closing

• Minutes template + the follow-up list format (decision → owner → date)
• A quorum rescue plan: getting people to actually come, and what the

constitution says happens if they don't

Required Inputs

Ask for (if not already provided):

• The organization and its constitution/rules — pasted if possible; the

notice period, quorum number, and election rules live there, and this

skill works from their rules, flagging "check your constitution" where

not provided

• What must be decided this year: elections (which posts), rule changes,

budget/subs, anything contentious

• Attendance reality: how many usually come vs the quorum
• The awkward stuff, honestly: contested posts, a grievance-holder, last

year's chaos

Framework

1. Work backwards from the constitution. Notice period sets the send

date; quorum sets the turnout target; election rules set the nomination

process. Where the user hasn't provided the document: use common defaults

labelled as defaults to verify, never as their rules.

1. Make the agenda decision-forward. Members show up when something is

decided, not reported. Reports circulated in advance and "taken as read"

with questions only; decisions named as motions in the agenda ("Motion:

raise subs to £X") so nobody's ambushed; AOB items requested in advance

with a chair's discretion line.

1. Script the chair. Verbatim openings for each segment, the vote

procedure (propose, second, discuss with time-box, vote, record the

count), and the two hard moments: the long-talker ("thank you — I'll take

two more speakers, then vote") and the grievance ("that deserves proper

time — I'm ruling it to a committee meeting on [date], recorded in

minutes").

1. Minutes record decisions, not dialogue. Per item: motion text ·

proposed/seconded · vote result with counts · action + owner + date.

Nobody's speech is summarized; three years from now the counts matter and

the speeches don't.

1. Rescue quorum before the day. Personal asks beat posters (the

three-line "we need YOU there Thursday" message, sent by name) · pair the

AGM with something people want (social, guest speaker, awards) · proxy

forms where allowed. And the honest branch: what the constitution says if

quorum fails — usually a reconvene rule; find it now, not at 7:40pm.

Output Format

## Timeline (backwards from AGM date)
[Notice by · nominations by · reports circulated · reminders]

## Notice pack
[The announcement + forms, ready to send]

## Agenda (decision-forward)
[Numbered, with motions stated in full]

## Chair's script
[Segment-by-segment, with the two hard-moment lines]

## Minutes template + follow-up list
[Decision-record format · action/owner/date table]

## Quorum plan
[Named-ask message · the pairing · the failure branch per constitution]

Quality Checks

• [ ] Every rule-dependent element (notice, quorum, elections) is anchored to

their constitution or explicitly flagged as a default-to-verify

• [ ] Motions appear in full in the agenda — no decision happens that wasn't

announced

• [ ] The chair's script covers the long-talker and the grievance
• [ ] Minutes template records counts and owners, not speeches
• [ ] The quorum plan includes the personal-ask message, not just posters

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not assert legal/charity/company requirements by jurisdiction —

constitution first, verify-flags second, invented law never

• [ ] Do not build a speech-schedule agenda — reports are reading, meetings

are for deciding

• [ ] Do not script the chair to shut people down — time-boxes and routing,

not suppression

• [ ] Do not treat AOB as an open mic; rules for it exist in the agenda

Related

[[committee-handover-pack]] for after the elections; [[volunteer-treasurer-basics]]

for the finance report's author; [[meeting-notes]] for ordinary meetings that

don't need the box.