# What is a group business meeting for?

**In short:**
- A business meeting is where a group looks after its own affairs: choosing its trusted servants, handling its money, planning its meetings, and hearing from the people who serve it. P-16 (2018) lists these jobs.
- The Long Form doesn't use the phrase "business meeting," but it covers everything such a meeting decides. A group answers only to "its own conscience" in its own affairs (p. 563), its leaders "do not govern" (p. 565), it pays its own way and avoids piling up money (p. 564), and its one purpose is carrying the message to the alcoholic who still suffers (p. 563).
- So the Traditions are the guide for a business meeting. P-16 says the same: the spiritual nature of the Fellowship, "embodied in our Traditions and Concepts," gives ample guidance (P-16, 2018, p. 30).

## What the Long Form gives a business meeting to work with (1946)

- **Whose decision it is.** For its group purpose there is but one ultimate authority, "a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience" (p. 563). In its own affairs each group "should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience" (p. 563).
- **When to look beyond the group.** If its plans affect neighbouring groups, they should be consulted; and nobody should take action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees (p. 563). "On such issues our common welfare is paramount" (p. 563).
- **The money.** The group is supported by its own members' voluntary contributions (p. 564). Large gifts and contributions with strings are unwise, and treasuries that keep growing "beyond prudent reserves" for no stated A.A. purpose are a concern (p. 564).
- **The officers.** A group needs "the least possible organization," rotating leadership is best, and a small group may elect a secretary, a large one a rotating committee (p. 565). They are servants: "They derive no real authority from their titles; they do not govern" (p. 565).
- **What's off the table.** Going into business, affiliating with or endorsing anything outside A.A. (p. 564), and taking positions on outside controversial issues (p. 565).
- **What everything serves.** "But one primary purpose — that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers" (p. 563).

## How groups actually worked (Bill W., 1947)

Most groups, Bill wrote, didn't even choose leaders; they used rotating committees for their simple affairs, which "have only the authorization to serve, never to command" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 38). Each committee "carries out what it believes to be the wishes of its group" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 38). Committees that tried to discipline members, write detailed rules or judge people's morals achieved nothing lasting (P-17, p. 38).

A small historical note: in 1947 Bill used the phrase "business meetings" for the meetings of a *club corporation* electing its directors, while "strictly A.A. matters" stayed with the groups (P-17, "Clubs in A.A.", 1947, p. 21; "Money", 1946, p. 29). See *What did Bill W. say about clubs and A.A.?*

## What P-16 says a business meeting does (2018, dated)

- **When.** Usually monthly or quarterly, called by the chairperson or another officer, before or after a regular meeting (P-16, 2018, p. 30).
- **Who votes.** A group may ask that "only home group members participate or vote" (P-16, 2018, p. 30).
- **What it covers.** Electing new officers; scheduling meetings; the treasurer's financial reports; reports from the general service representative and other servants; and "apportioning excess funds" among the local intergroup, GSO, and the area and district (P-16, 2018, p. 30). P-16 also describes business sessions as a place for officers' reports "to discuss group affairs and obtain group guidance" (P-16, 2018, p. 14).
- **How.** Members get all the relevant facts before a vote; reaching an informed group conscience takes time; and "minority, or dissenting, views" must be heard, since they may even turn the tide (P-16, 2018, p. 30). P-16 describes group conscience as aiming at "substantial unanimity" (P-16, 2018, p. 28), and says its result "rests on more than a 'yes' or 'no' count" (P-16, 2018, p. 29).
- **What it isn't.** Some groups tried Robert's Rules of Order and found members too intimidated to speak; the Traditions and Concepts give "ample guidance" (P-16, 2018, p. 30).

P-16 isn't entirely consistent on how decisions are made. Its introduction says groups "function as a democracy, with all plans for group action approved by the majority voice" (P-16, 2018, p. 10), while its group-conscience section asks for substantial unanimity. See *Is group conscience a majority vote?*

## What the text settles

The Long Form doesn't prescribe a format or an agenda. It settles who decides (the group's own conscience, under God as expressed there), who doesn't (any officer, committee or outside body), what the money is for, and what the group exists to do. A business meeting run on those lines is the Traditions at work in one group.

## Read it yourself
- Appendix I, the Long Form of the Traditions (pp. 561–566), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_appendicei.pdf
- P-17, *A.A. Tradition: How It Developed* ("Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", pp. 37–40): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/p-17_AATraditions.pdf
- P-16, *The A.A. Group* (pp. 28–30): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/p-16_0723.pdf
- Related: *What is a home group, and how do the Traditions guide it?* · *Tradition Two: does anyone have authority in A.A.?* · *Tradition Nine: is A.A. organized? Who runs it?*

## Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| The Twelve Traditions, Long Form (Big Book Appendix I) | 563–565 | AA Grapevine, 1946; in the Big Book from 1955 |
| Bill W., "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?" (P-17) | 38 | AA Grapevine, 1947 |
| Bill W., "Clubs in A.A." and "Money" (P-17) | 21; 29 | AA Grapevine, 1947; 1946 |
| P-16, *The A.A. Group* | 10, 14, 28–30 | © 2018 (revised 2022) |

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). P-17 page numbers are the pamphlet's printed numbers (© 2019); P-16's are from the 2023 printing, as on aa.org.

*Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book and P-16 are © A.A. World Services, Inc.; the P-17 articles are © AA Grapevine, Inc., reprinted by A.A. World Services.*