Meetings and minutes
Any other business
The standing last item on the agenda, for short matters not submitted in advance.
Any other business, abbreviated AOB, is the standing last item on most agendas.
It is meant for short matters that came up after the notice went out, or for briefings that need no decision.
What does not belong there
Matters that require preparation. Nobody can take a position on something they hear about for the first time at 15:55.
Matters with financial consequences. Those go on the agenda, with documentation.
Matters somebody avoided submitting. The item is sometimes used deliberately to get something through without discussion, when people are tired and looking at the clock. That is worth recognising.
Can decisions be taken under AOB?
In formal bodies the main rule is no, or at the very least: be careful. The notice is meant to give members a chance to prepare, and a decision on a matter that was not on the agenda can be challenged on exactly that basis. Check what the law and your body’s own rules say.
In ordinary working meetings this is a practical question, not a legal one: can the people affected say anything sensible about the matter without preparation?
Keeping the item in check
- Ask for submissions before the meeting. Then the matters get prepared, and AOB stays short.
- Put a time on it, typically five minutes.
- Move whatever needs deciding to the next meeting’s agenda, and write that in the minutes.