The Public Service newbie guide

Also heard as: pre read, preread, pre-reading material

Example: Let’s take this offline before the meeting acquires a second agenda.

Also heard as: discuss offline, offline this, take it offline

Context: Usually means a separate follow-up, not necessarily an in-person or non-digital discussion. State who will continue it and when, or it can become a polite way to bury the issue.

Example: Seek a steer before lovingly polishing the wrong option.

Also heard as: seek a steer, get a steer, management steer

Context: The strength of a steer depends on who gives it and the forum’s authority; do not assume it replaces the required clearance or approval.

The document defining a committee, workgroup or project’s purpose, scope, membership, authority, deliverables and operating arrangements.

Also heard as: terms of reference

A senior committee that provides direction, resolves escalated issues and oversees a programme, project or workstream.

Also heard as: SteerCo, Steering Com, Steer Comm, steering committee

Also heard as: action point, follow-up action, AI

Context: AI is highly ambiguous and should only be used where the meeting context is clear.

Government-style meeting minutes recording the key discussion, decisions and follow-up actions, often drafted by the meeting secretariat.

Also heard as: NOMs, Notes of Meetings, Notes of Meeting, meeting minutes

A review after an activity or operation to compare intended and actual outcomes and capture lessons.

Also heard as: After-Action Review

Also heard as: actions tracker, action log

The agenda item near the end of a meeting for matters not listed as substantive items earlier in the agenda.

An agenda item near the end of a meeting for raising matters that were not covered under the earlier items.

Also heard as: Any Other Matters, any other matter

Context: Used similarly to AOB, meaning Any Other Business; the preferred label varies by organisation.

A focused meeting between two parties, agencies, office-holders or delegations, often held alongside a larger engagement.

Also heard as: bilateral, bilateral meeting, bilats

Context: Especially common in diplomatic and senior-leadership programmes, although it may also be used for a two-party agency meeting.

Also heard as: don't boil the ocean, boiling the ocean

Context: Often used to push a team towards a bounded first step rather than a complete solution from the outset.

Also heard as: by circulation, circulate, circulate for approval, circulate for clearance, paper circulation

Context: A circulation may be merely informational or may constitute a formal written resolution; the paper should state which is intended.

Example: The exam question isn’t “Can we build an app?” It is “Why is anyone still faxing this form?”

Also heard as: what’s the exam question?, what is the exam question?, the exam question, answer the exam question

Context: Used to refocus a paper or discussion when the team may be answering adjacent questions instead of the main one.

A senior management or governance committee empowered to steer or decide specified organisational matters.

Also heard as: ExecCo

Context: Membership and decision authority are organisation-specific.

Also heard as: approving forum, decision forum, management forum

Context: The forum's authority and purpose depend on its terms of reference.

Example: Good minutes record decisions and owners; they do not preserve every cough in the room.

Also heard as: meeting minutes, minutes of meeting, NOM, NOMs, Notes of Meeting, ROD, Record of Discussion

Also heard as: analysis paralysis

Context: The corrective is proportionate analysis and staged learning, not acting without evidence.

Example: We can play it by ear on refreshments. The Minister’s arrival time, less so.

Also heard as: play by ear, we’ll play it by ear, play things by ear

Context: Useful when flexibility is intentional; not a substitute for planning where timing, safety or approvals matter.

Also heard as: prebrief, pre-meeting brief, pre meeting brief

Also heard as: meeting quorum

Also heard as: readback, meeting read-back, readout, meeting readout

An advance visit to inspect a site, venue, route or operating environment before an event, exercise or activity.

Also heard as: site recce, venue recce, recce visit, on-site recce

Context: In everyday Public Service and event work, a recce usually means a practical site inspection rather than military reconnaissance.

A concise record of the substance and outcomes of a discussion.

Also heard as: RODs, Records of Discussion, Record of Discussions

Context: The full phrase appears in government recruitment material, but use of ROD as a standard short form varies by agency.

Example: The data pack has 47 charts; sense-making is deciding which three change the decision.

Also heard as: sensemaking, sense making, sense-make, sense make

Context: In Public Service usage, sense-making usually goes beyond summarising inputs. It involves connecting evidence, assumptions, stakeholder perspectives and implications so that judgement or action is possible.

Example: The steering committee steers; it should not personally row every workstream.

Also heard as: SteerCo, steer co, steering comm

Context: Its decision rights depend on its Terms of Reference.

Also heard as: tabled, tabling, table a paper

Example: Write the ToR before the committee reaches meeting six and starts asking why it exists.

Also heard as: TOR, terms of ref

A group formed to address a specific problem, urgent issue or cross-functional objective.

Also heard as: taskforce, task force

A discussion-based exercise in which participants work through a simulated scenario to test plans, decisions and coordination.

Also heard as: table-top exercise, table top exercise

A working group of technical specialists formed to resolve detailed issues or develop recommendations within a defined scope.

A group formed to develop recommendations or deliver a defined piece of work, often reporting to a committee or sponsor.

Also heard as: Work Group, workgroup, working group

Example: The working group does the work that the steering committee later sees on slide 7.

Also heard as: WG, work group, workgroup

Context: A working group commonly reports to a steering committee, senior sponsor or another formal forum.

Example: The WPS is where the agency explains the year’s priorities, usually with at least one launch and many slides.

Also heard as: WPS, Work Plan Seminar, annual workplan seminar

Context: The format varies by agency. Despite the name, it is often a leadership and organisational-direction event rather than a working seminar.