Before the call
Ask every owner to update their actions before the review. The chair or block manager should identify new items, overdue targets, waiting items and work marked Ready for review. Do not spend the meeting discovering basic status information that an owner can add beforehand.
The 20-minute agenda
- Minutes 0–3 · New: clarify the action, source and first owner.
- Minutes 3–8 · Waiting: name the blocker and who will unblock it.
- Minutes 8–13 · Targets: review overdue or near-term work and record any agreed change.
- Minutes 13–18 · Review: examine items ready for a named closure decision.
- Minutes 18–20 · Recap: read back changed owners, targets and decisions.
Three useful roles
The chair
Keeps the discussion on the next move, makes uncertainty visible and prevents the group from closing an item merely because it has been open for a long time.
The owner
Is responsible for the next update—not necessarily for doing every part of the work. They record blockers and ask for a new decision when the agreed plan no longer fits.
The reviewer
Records what they examined and why the team closed or reopened the action. The reviewer should be appropriate for the decision; the workboard does not choose them.
Keep access attributable
Give each director, manager or adviser their own account. Shared passwords make access harder to revoke and remove a reliable record of who entered each update. Keep chat and email for conversation, then bring the resulting decision back to the action thread.
The weekly question is simple: what is the next move, who owns it and what needs a human review?
What to send with the board papers
- A short list of new and materially changed actions.
- Waiting items that need a board decision.
- Items ready for a named review.
- Closed items with the review date and closure note.
Avoid turning the full register into a performance score. The purpose is to focus attention and preserve decisions, not to imply a conclusion about the building.