Meeting glossary: common meeting terms and what they mean

How to use this glossary

Terms are listed A to Z. Each one has a short definition you can quote, and some link to a longer answer.

The list covers everyday meeting vocabulary, formal procedure from boards and committees, agile team rituals, and the language of video calls and AI notetakers.

Have a transcript from a recent meeting? Turn it into a summary, decisions and action items with our free AI meeting notetaker. Try the free notetaker →

A

Action item: A specific task agreed in a meeting, with one owner and a due date. Action items turn discussion into work someone is accountable for. Learn more about Action item
Ad hoc meeting: An unscheduled meeting called to deal with an issue as it comes up. It usually has a narrow purpose and few attendees.
Adjourn: To formally end a meeting. Under Robert's Rules, unfinished business usually carries over to the next regular meeting if it is held within about three months.
Agenda: The list of topics a meeting will cover, in order, often with a time and an owner for each. A good agenda also states the decision or outcome each item needs. Learn more about Agenda
Agenda item: One topic on a meeting agenda. Each item works best with an owner, a time limit and the outcome it needs, such as a decision or input. Learn more about Agenda item
AI meeting assistant: Software that uses AI to help before, during or after a meeting. It might prepare a brief, answer questions live, write notes or draft follow-ups. Learn more about AI meeting assistant
AI notetaker: A tool that records or listens to a meeting, transcribes it and writes a summary with decisions and action items. Most join calls as a bot; some capture audio from your device instead. Learn more about AI notetaker
All-hands meeting: A meeting for everyone in a company or department. Leaders use it to share news, results and priorities, often with time for questions. Learn more about All-hands meeting
Annual general meeting (AGM): A yearly meeting of an organization's members or shareholders. It typically covers the annual report and accounts and elections to the board.
Any other business (AOB): A standing item at the end of an agenda for topics that weren't listed. Groups often limit it so new issues get a proper slot next time.
Asynchronous meeting: A meeting held without everyone present at the same time. People contribute through recorded video, documents or threads on their own schedule. Learn more about Asynchronous meeting
Attendee: Anyone who takes part in a meeting. Invitations often separate required attendees from optional ones.

B

Backlog refinement: The ongoing work of breaking down, clarifying and sizing upcoming backlog items. Many teams hold a regular session for it; it used to be called backlog grooming.
Ballot: A vote cast in writing or electronically, often in secret. Groups use ballots for elections and sensitive decisions.
Board meeting: A formal meeting of an organization's board of directors. It follows the bylaws, needs a quorum to act and is recorded in minutes. Learn more about Board meeting
Booking page: A public scheduling page where people pick an open time on your calendar. The booking creates the calendar invite and meeting link for you.
Bot-free recording: Capturing a meeting without adding a visible notetaker to the call. A desktop app records system audio and the microphone on your own device. Learn more about Bot-free recording
Brainstorming meeting: A meeting to generate many ideas quickly before judging them. The facilitator separates idea generation from evaluation. Learn more about Brainstorming meeting
Breakout room: A smaller session split off from a larger video meeting. Participants work in groups and then return to the main room.
Buffer time: A gap kept free before or after a meeting. It leaves room to prepare, travel or write up notes.
Bylaws: The rules an organization adopts to govern itself. Bylaws usually set the quorum, officer roles and how meetings are called.

C

Calendar invite: An event sent through a calendar app with the time, attendees and meeting link. Accepting it adds the meeting to your calendar.
Call to order: The chair's formal opening of a meeting. In formal meetings it marks the moment official business can begin.
Chairperson: The person who runs a meeting. The chair keeps to the agenda, gives people the floor and calls votes.
Check-in: A short opening round where each person shares a quick update or how they're doing. It helps people settle in before the agenda starts.
Closed meeting: A meeting open only to members or invited people, not the public. Many public bodies may close only part of a meeting, for specific reasons.
Committee: A smaller group set up by a larger body to handle a specific area of work. It meets on its own and reports back.
Conference call: A phone or audio call with three or more participants. People often use the term for any group call, including video.
Consensus: A decision that everyone can support, even if it isn't anyone's first choice. Reaching it often takes longer than a vote.

D

Daily scrum: A 15-minute daily event in which the Developers of a Scrum team inspect progress toward the sprint goal and adapt the sprint backlog. Many teams call it the daily stand-up. Learn more about Daily scrum
Debrief: A short meeting right after an event, call or project to capture what happened and what to do next. It's lighter than a full post-mortem.
Decision log: A running record of the decisions a team has made, with the date, owner and reasoning. It stops settled questions from being reopened. Learn more about Decision log
Decision-making meeting: A meeting held to reach a specific decision. It names the decision-maker and the options up front. Learn more about Decision-making meeting
Dial-in: A phone number that lets people join an online meeting by audio only. It helps people without a stable internet connection.
Diarization: Short for speaker diarization: splitting a recording by who spoke when. It is what lets a transcript label each line with a speaker. Learn more about Diarization
Discovery call: A first sales conversation to learn about a prospect's needs, goals and timeline. It decides whether there's a fit before any demo. Learn more about Discovery call
Drop-in meeting: A quick, unscheduled call with a colleague, started without a calendar invite. Think of it as the remote version of stopping by someone's desk.

E

Executive session: The part of a board or committee meeting held privately, usually without staff or guests. It's used for sensitive matters such as pay or legal issues.

F

Facilitator: The person who guides a meeting's process. They keep discussion on track and make sure every voice is heard, often without taking a side.
Floor: The right to speak in a formal meeting. A member who "has the floor" may speak, within any time limit, until they yield it.
Follow-up email: A message sent after a meeting that recaps decisions, action items and owners. Sending it the same day keeps commitments fresh. Learn more about Follow-up email

G

Gallery view: A video-call layout that shows participants in a grid of equal tiles. Speaker view shows only the active speaker large.
Ground rules: Agreed norms for how a group will behave in its meetings. Examples include cameras on, one conversation at a time and phones away.

H

Hand raise: A video-call feature that signals you want to speak without interrupting. Hosts usually see raised hands in order.
Host: The person who owns and controls a video meeting. The host admits guests, manages recording and can mute or remove participants. Learn more about Host
Huddle: A short, informal meeting, often called on the spot. Many chat apps offer audio huddles inside a channel.
Hybrid meeting: A meeting where some people are in a room together and others join remotely. Good hybrid meetings make sure remote people can hear and be heard. Learn more about Hybrid meeting

I

Icebreaker: A short activity at the start of a meeting that helps people get comfortable. It's most useful when attendees don't know each other.
In-person meeting: A meeting where everyone is physically in the same room. It can still be recorded and transcribed with a phone or laptop microphone. Learn more about In-person meeting

K

Kickoff meeting: The first meeting of a project, where the team aligns on goals, scope, roles and timeline. It sets expectations before work starts. Learn more about Kickoff meeting

L

Live captions: On-screen text of what's being said in a meeting, shown in real time. Captions help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or in noisy places. Learn more about Live captions
Live transcription: Converting speech to text while a meeting is happening. Captions and running transcripts help people who join late or prefer to read. Learn more about Live transcription
Live translation: Translating speech or captions into another language while a meeting is happening. It lets people follow along in their own language. Learn more about Live translation
Lobby: A holding area where people wait before the host admits them to a video meeting. It's also called a waiting room.

M

MCP (Model Context Protocol): An open standard for connecting AI assistants to outside tools and data. Through an MCP server, an assistant like Claude can read meeting transcripts and notes. Learn more about MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Meeting brief: A short document that prepares someone for an upcoming meeting. It covers who is attending, past context and the questions to settle. Learn more about Meeting brief
Meeting cadence: How often a recurring meeting happens, such as daily, weekly or monthly. The right cadence matches how fast the work changes.
Meeting cost: The combined value of attendees' time spent in a meeting. A rough estimate is attendees multiplied by duration multiplied by an hourly rate. Learn more about Meeting cost
Meeting etiquette: The shared habits that make meetings work, such as arriving on time, muting when not speaking and sticking to the agenda.
Meeting fatigue: The tiredness that builds up from back-to-back meetings, especially video calls. Shorter meetings and breaks between them help.
Meeting link: A URL that opens a video meeting. Anyone with the link can usually ask to join, subject to the host's access settings.
Meeting minutes: The official written record of a meeting. Minutes capture who attended, what was decided and any votes, not every word said. Learn more about Meeting minutes
Meeting notes: An informal record of what was discussed in a meeting. Unlike minutes, notes can be in any format and are written for the team's own use. Learn more about Meeting notes
Meeting recap: A summary of a meeting shared afterwards. It lists the key points, decisions and next steps for people who attended or missed it. Learn more about Meeting recap
Minute-taker: The person responsible for writing the minutes of a meeting. In formal bodies this is usually the secretary. Learn more about Minute-taker
Moderator: The person who manages discussion in a panel, webinar or large meeting. They introduce speakers, take audience questions and keep time.
Motion: A formal proposal for a group to take an action or position. In parliamentary procedure, a motion is made, seconded, debated and then voted on.
Mute: Turning off a participant's microphone so the call doesn't hear them. Hosts can usually mute others, but usually only the participant can unmute.

N

New business: The part of a formal agenda for topics raised for the first time. It follows unfinished (old) business.
No-meeting day: A day of the week a team keeps free of meetings. It protects time for focused work.
Noise suppression: A feature that filters background sound, like typing or traffic, out of your microphone audio. Most video meeting apps include it.

O

Off-site: A meeting or retreat held away from the usual workplace. Teams use off-sites for planning, strategy or team building.
One-on-one meeting: A regular private meeting between two people, usually a manager and a direct report. It covers progress, feedback, blockers and growth. Learn more about One-on-one meeting
Open floor: Time in a meeting when anyone may raise a topic or ask a question. Town halls often end with one.
Organizer: The person who schedules a meeting and sends the invitation. In most calendar apps, only the organizer can change the event for everyone.

P

Panel: A discussion among several invited speakers in front of an audience, led by a moderator.
Parking lot: A visible list of off-topic items raised during a meeting. Parking them keeps the agenda on track without losing the idea.
Parliamentary procedure: A set of rules for running formal meetings fairly and efficiently. Robert's Rules of Order is the most widely used guide in the United States.
Point of order: A call from a member that the meeting is breaking its own rules. The chair must rule on it before business continues.
Post-mortem: A review held after a project or incident to learn what happened and why. Blameless post-mortems focus on systems, not individuals. Learn more about Post-mortem
Pre-read: Material sent before a meeting so attendees arrive informed. It saves meeting time for discussion and decisions. Learn more about Pre-read
Presenter: The person sharing content or leading a section of a meeting. Some platforms give presenters extra controls, such as screen sharing.
Proxy: Someone authorized to vote or act for a member who can't attend. Whether proxies count depends on the group's bylaws and any law that applies.

Q

Q&A: A part of a meeting or webinar reserved for audience questions. Many platforms offer a Q&A panel where questions can be upvoted.
Quarterly business review (QBR): A meeting held every quarter to review results against goals and plan the next quarter. Account teams also run QBRs with customers.
Quorum: The minimum number of members who must be present before a group can take official action. It's usually set in the bylaws. Learn more about Quorum

R

RACI: A chart that assigns who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each task. It clarifies who should be in which meetings.
Recording consent: Agreement from participants before a meeting is recorded. Rules differ by location and organization, so tell people before you record and give them a way to object. Learn more about Recording consent
Recurring meeting: A meeting that repeats on a set schedule, such as every Monday at 10am. One calendar series covers every occurrence.
Retrospective: A meeting where a team looks back on a period of work to decide what to keep, change or try. In Scrum, the sprint retrospective closes each sprint. Learn more about Retrospective
Round robin: Going around the group so each person speaks in turn. In scheduling, it also means sharing bookings evenly across a team.
RSVP: A reply to an invitation saying whether you'll attend. Calendar invites show it as accept, decline or maybe.
Running notes: One shared document that a recurring meeting adds to each time. Earlier meetings' notes stay in the same document for context. Learn more about Running notes

S

Screen sharing: Showing your screen, a window or a browser tab to everyone in a video meeting. Hosts can limit who is allowed to share.
Second: Support from another member for a motion, showing at least two people want to discuss it. Without a second, many motions can't move forward.
Secretary: The officer who keeps an organization's records, including notices of meetings and approved minutes.
Skip-level meeting: A meeting between a manager and the people who report to their direct reports. It gives leaders feedback beyond a single layer of management.
Speaker labels: The names attached to each line of a transcript to show who said it. They come from diarization plus matching voices to attendees. Learn more about Speaker labels
Speaker view: A video-call layout that shows whoever is talking in a large tile. It's the alternative to gallery view.
Sprint planning: The Scrum event that starts a sprint. The team decides why the sprint matters, what it can deliver and how the work will get done. Learn more about Sprint planning
Sprint review: The Scrum event near the end of a sprint where the team shows its work to stakeholders and adjusts what comes next. Learn more about Sprint review
Stakeholder: Anyone affected by or able to influence a project or decision. Not every stakeholder needs to attend every meeting.
Stand-up meeting: A short, regular team check-in about near-term work: what changed, what needs attention and who needs help. It's kept brief enough to stand through and ends with shared next steps. Learn more about Stand-up meeting
Standing agenda: A fixed set of items a recurring meeting covers every time. Teams add one-off topics on top.
Status meeting: A meeting to share progress on a project against its plan. Many teams replace it with written or asynchronous updates.
Steering committee: A group of senior stakeholders who guide a project, set priorities and approve major decisions. It meets at key points in the project.
Summary: A short version of what happened in a meeting. AI summaries are generated from the transcript and still need a quick check for accuracy.
Sync: Short for synchronization: a quick meeting to align on status or next steps. It often refers to a small, informal check-in.

T

Table a motion: A phrase with opposite meanings. In U.S. usage it means setting a motion aside for now; in British usage it means putting it forward for discussion.
Talking points: The key messages someone plans to make in a meeting. They keep a speaker focused without a word-for-word script. Learn more about Talking points
Time zone: The local time standard in a region. Calendar apps convert meeting times to each attendee's own time zone.
Timeboxing: Giving each agenda item a fixed amount of time. When the time is up, the group decides, defers or moves on.
Town hall: A large meeting where leaders share updates and take open questions from employees. It's similar to an all-hands with more time for Q&A.
Transcript: A written record of everything said in a meeting, usually with speaker names and timestamps. AI transcription produces one automatically from audio. Learn more about Transcript

U

Unanimous consent: Approving a routine matter without a formal vote when no one objects. The chair asks, "Is there any objection?"
Unfinished business: Items carried over from a previous meeting that weren't completed. It's also called old business.

V

Video conferencing: Meeting over the internet with live video and audio. Most platforms add chat, screen sharing and recording. Learn more about Video conferencing
Virtual background: An image or blur shown behind you on a video call in place of your real surroundings.
Virtual meeting: A meeting held online rather than in a shared room. It may use video, audio only or a chat-based format.
Virtual whiteboard: A shared digital canvas for drawing, sticky notes and diagrams during a meeting. It replaces a physical whiteboard for remote teams.
Vote: The formal way a group makes a decision. Methods include voice vote, show of hands, roll call and ballot.

W

Walking meeting: A meeting held while walking, usually with just a few people. It suits brainstorming and one-on-ones more than detailed review.
Webinar: An online presentation to a large audience. Unlike a meeting, attendees usually watch and ask questions rather than speak.
Working session: A meeting where people do the work together, such as editing a document or fixing a bug. It's about producing output, not reporting on it.
Workshop: A hands-on meeting where participants work through exercises together to produce something, such as a plan or a design.
Wrap-up: The final minutes of a meeting, used to confirm decisions, owners and next steps. A clear wrap-up keeps follow-ups from getting lost.

Sources & further reading

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