Help centre / Meetings & minutes / Track decisions and actions between meetings
Track decisions and actions between meetings
Actions recorded in a meeting go to the Action log with an owner and a due date, and the owner gets an email. Update progress there between meetings. Open decisions wait on the Decisions page until they are voted on or recorded.
Most boards are fine at deciding things and less good at following through. CharityControl keeps every action and every open decision in one place, so nothing relies on someone's memory.
Record an action in a meeting
- Open the meeting and scroll to the Actions section.
- Select Add action.
- Describe what needs doing in the Action field. For example, Meadowbank Community Trust records "Get three quotes for the hall roof repair".
- Pick an Owner and a Due date. An action without an owner tends to stay undone.
- Select Add action. The owner gets an email telling them what they've been given and when it's due.
Chase what's outstanding
The Action log gathers every action from every meeting and project. Each person also sees their own under My open actions on their home page.
- Tap the circle next to an action to move it forward: open, in progress, then done.
- Overdue actions show their due date in red, so the ones that need chasing stand out.
- Use the pencil to hand an action to someone else or change the due date. That's allowed and normal. A realistic date beats an ignored one.
Keep decisions moving
The Decisions page shows everything Waiting for a decision. Trustees can vote on each item there between meetings. If your rules allow it, a decision with enough votes can be settled without waiting for the next meeting: choose Record (written resolution) and it moves into the decision register. Anyone can raise a new item with Raise a decision.
Before the next meeting
Add an agenda item with the Action review segment so going through open actions is a fixed part of every meeting. The board pack lists the meeting's actions too, so everyone arrives knowing what was promised.
The governance behind this: our free guide on charitycontrol.org explains the why in plain English.