can be defined as the written record of everything that’s happened during a meeting.
Meeting minutes
They’re used to inform people who didn’t attend the meeting about what happened, or to keep track of what was decided during the meeting so that you can revisit it and use it to inform future decisions.
Minutes of the meeting
What should you include when writing meeting minutes?
- Pre-Planning
- Record taking - at the meeting
- Minutes writing or transcribing
- Distributing or sharing of meeting minutes
- Filing or storage of minutes for future reference
important to capture the essence of the meeting, including details such as:
- decisions made (motions made, votes, etc.)
- next steps planned
- identification and
- tracking of action items
What is the purpose of meeting minutes?
- Minutes are a tangible record of the meeting for its participants
- a source of information for members who were unable to attend.
- In some cases, meeting minutes can act as a reference point,
Why are they called minutes of a meeting?
- don’t refer to the minute measurement of time, but to the “minute” (my-newt) notes taken during meetings.
- The term “Minutes” first came into vogue in the early 18th century. It is derived from either the Latin “minuta scriptura”, meaning “small notes” or “minuta”, meaning “small”, or possibly goes back even further to the Latin of thr 16th century “minute” definition of “rough draft” from the preceding Latin.
A well-planned meeting helps ensure effective meeting minutes. If the Chair and the Secretary or minutes-taker work together to ensure the agenda and meeting are well thought out, it makes minute taking much easier.
Pre-planning meeting minutes
use it as a guide or outline for taking notes and preparing the minutes – with the order and numbering of items on the minutes of meeting matching those of the _______.
agenda of a meeting
the agenda and/or meeting notice also provides information that will need to be included in the minutes, such as:
- the names of all the meeting attendees, including guests or speakers
- documents that are sent out with the agenda or handed out in the meeting
What should be included in meeting minutes?
- Date and time of the meeting
- Names of the meeting participants and those unable to attend (e.g., “regrets”)
- Acceptance or corrections/amendments to previous meeting minutes
- Decisions made about each agenda item, for example:
- Actions taken or agreed to be taken
- Next steps
- Voting outcomes – e.g., (if necessary, details regarding who made motions; who seconded and approved or via show of hands, etc.)
- Motions taken or rejected
- Items to be held over
- New business
- Next meeting date and time
Tips that might help your note taking:
- Create an outline
- Check-off attendees as they enter the room
- Record decisions
- Ask for clarification if necessary
- Don’t try to capture it all
- Record it
based on the agenda makes it easy for you to simply jot down notes, decisions, etc. under each item as you go along.
Create an outline
time to pull together your notes and write the minutes.
The minutes writing process
The Minutes Writing Process
- Try to write the minutes as soon as the meeting ended while everything is fresh to your mind
- Review your outline and if necessary, add additional notes or clarification
- Make sure to include sufficient detail
- For Board of Director’s minutes in particular, we recommend including a short description of each action taken, as well as the rationale behind the decision
- write down the major arguments for and against
- Edit to ensure brevity and clarity, so the minutes are easy to read
- Format
- In terms of format, here are a few things to keep in mind:
7.1 Be objective
7.2 Write in the same tense
7.3 Avoid using names
7.4 Avoid personal observations
To write effective meeting minutes, you should include:
- The names of the participants
- Agenda items
- Calendar or due dates
- Actions or tasks
- The main points
- Decisions made by the participants
- Record what is the most important points
- Future decisions
- Documents: images, attached files
Do meeting minutes have to be approved?
Depending on your Board, minutes may also be formally approved at the beginning
of the next meeting.
Distributing or Sharing Meeting Minutes
Online sharing
Sharing in the Cloud
it’s great if you can use a paperless sharing process.
Online sharing
If your organization is using a cloud-based membership management system (like Wild Apricot), you can publish the minutes as a web page and give access only to the committee or Board members,
Sharing in the cloud
Tools Specifically for Meeting Minutes:
- Google Docs:
- OneNote
- Lucid Meetings
- Evernote
- Agreedo
- minutes.io
Also supports collaborative note taking.
Google docs
Very fast and allows for organization of notes.
OneNote
Fantastic meeting-tool to automate your meeting processes like notes, attendance, and organization.
Lucid meetings
