AOB stands for "any other business." It's the item placed at the end of a meeting agenda where anyone present can raise something not already on the agenda. You'll see it most often on UK and Commonwealth board, committee and trustee meeting agendas, the equivalent US term is usually "new business" or "open discussion."
AOB is almost always the second-to-last item, just before confirming the date of the next meeting and closing. It exists to catch things that came up too late to be scheduled properly, an update that landed the day before the meeting, a quick administrative note, or something a director wants to flag for a future agenda.
The chair usually controls AOB directly: deciding what's raised, how long it gets, and whether it needs to be minuted in detail or simply noted.
|
Used well |
Used badly |
|
|
What's raised |
Genuinely urgent or minor items that emerged after the agenda was set |
Substantive items that should have been on the main agenda |
|
Preparation needed |
Little to none, a quick update or heads-up |
Significant, needs papers or briefing directors don't have |
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Decisions made |
Low-stakes or procedural |
Strategic or high-impact, made without proper preparation |
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Effect on the meeting |
Brief, contained within the time allotted |
Runs long, pushes other items or crowds out discussion |
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What it signals |
Healthy flexibility for genuine last-minute matters |
An agenda-planning gap, the board is reacting, not leading |
AOB items should be minuted with the same care as anything else on the agenda, not skipped because they weren't planned in advance. At minimum, record:
If an AOB item results in a real decision, it deserves the same clarity in the minutes as a planned agenda item would get, a governance record doesn't get less rigorous just because something wasn't scheduled.
The real fix for a bloated AOB section is all about having a better agenda in and meeting process in place.
BoardPro's Agenda Builder lets you clone your last agenda in one click, allocate time to each item, and drag items into place as priorities shift, so there's a proper slot for things before they end up parked under AOB by default.
And if something genuinely does come up under AOB, it doesn't get lost: notes, decisions and actions are captured directly against that item as the meeting happens, then flow straight into the minutes and a central action register. Meaning even last-minute items get the same follow-through as everything else on the agenda.
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AOB stands for "any other business", a standard agenda item, most commonly used in UK, Irish, and Commonwealth meetings, for topics not already on the agenda.
Less commonly in this exact form. US meetings more often use terms like "new business" or "open discussion" for a similar purpose.
Yes, anything discussed or decided under AOB should be recorded in the minutes with the same care as a planned agenda item, including who raised it and any action assigned.
There's no fixed rule, but giving it a defined slot, commonly 5–10 minutes, helps prevent it from expanding to absorb whatever time is left in the meeting.
Treat it as a signal to review how the agenda is planned. Frequent, lengthy AOB usually means items are landing there that should have been scheduled as proper agenda items with time and preparation built in.