Meeting Management now includes Agenda Item Workflows, a configurable, multi-step approval process for agenda item requests. Members can request an agenda item and track it from submission through review, while staff and administrators get the tools to route, review, and approve requests before they’re placed on a meeting agenda.
No coding or custom development is required. Your organization builds the approval steps that match how you already work, then turns the feature on for the agenda categories you choose.
Why it matters
Many organizations handle agenda item requests informally: over email, in spreadsheets, or through ad hoc approvals. Agenda Item Workflows brings that process into Meeting Management, so requests move through a clear, consistent path and everyone involved can see where things stand.
- Consistency. Every request follows the same defined process from submission to agenda placement.
- Visibility. Members and staff can see a request’s status and history at any point.
- Control. Approval steps can mirror your organization’s actual roles and responsibilities.
- Flexibility. Workflows can be turned on for one agenda category at a time, so you can roll out at your own pace.
For administrators: build your own approval process
A new Workflows area lets administrators design an approval pipeline without any code changes.
- Create a workflow with a name, description, and as many ordered approval steps as your process needs.
- Assign reviewers to each step, so only the right staff can act on a request at that stage.
- Add conditional steps that only activate when a submitter’s answers meet certain criteria. Steps that don’t apply are automatically skipped.
- Reorder steps any time before a workflow is published.
- Publish a workflow when it’s ready. Publishing locks in the approval steps so every request follows a consistent path. If you need to make changes later, you can clone the workflow as a starting point for a new version.
- Clone an existing workflow to reuse as the basis for a new process.
- Enable or disable a published workflow. Disabling stops new requests from coming in while letting anything already in progress finish.
- Remove a workflow from your active list at any time; a record is kept for reference.
For members: submitting and tracking a request
Once a workflow is linked to an agenda category, members will see a Request Agenda Item option for that category.
- A dashboard shows your most recent requests at a glance, with a link to view your full history.
- You can view full details and the complete history of any request you’ve submitted.
- You can edit or cancel a request while it’s still early in the process. Once it moves further along, those options lock to protect the integrity of the review.
For staff: reviewing and approving requests
Reviewers get a dedicated space to manage the requests assigned to them.
- My Workflow Items shows requests waiting on your review group. Claim a request to begin working it.
- Approve, reject, or return a request, sending it back to the submitter with comments if changes are needed.
- Once a request clears every approval step, it moves to an approved and ready list, waiting to be placed on an agenda.
- A history view lets staff look up any completed or closed request.
- Leadership roles can view a reporting dashboard with workflow volume and status counts across all requests.
From approval to the agenda
Once a request is fully approved, the agenda manager places it directly onto a meeting agenda. At that point, the workflow closes automatically and is retained as part of the item’s permanent history, so no manual hand-off is required.
Staying informed
Everyone involved gets email updates at the key moments: when a request is created, advances to the next step, is returned for changes, is rejected, is fully approved, and is placed on an agenda. Every action taken on a request is also recorded in a permanent audit trail, so the full history is always available.
Keeping things secure
- All workflow actions require an authenticated Meeting Management login, and only staff in the assigned review groups can process requests at each step.
- Files attached to a request are encrypted and can only be accessed through a secure, authenticated session. PDFs and images can be viewed right in the browser; other file types are available to download.
Getting started
- Build a workflow. Go to the Workflows area in Meeting Management, create a workflow, add your approval steps, and assign the appropriate review groups.
- Publish it. Once you’re happy with the process, publish the workflow to lock it in.
- Link it to an agenda category. Associate the published workflow with an agenda category. The Request Agenda Item option will appear for members automatically.
The feature stays dormant until step 3 is complete, so you’re always in control of when it goes live.
Recommended: start with a single agenda category, confirm your review groups and approval steps work the way you expect, then expand to additional categories over time.
Good to know
- Only agenda categories with an associated, published workflow will show the request option to members.
- Changing or removing a workflow from an agenda category only affects new requests going forward. Requests already in progress continue under the workflow they started with.
