What Are Meeting Minutes?

Meeting minutes are the official record of what decisions were made, who was in attendance and all other consequential events that occurred during the board meeting. Minutes usually need not be a verbatim account of every commentary in the board meeting

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Once the meeting is concluded, the minutes are circulated to the meeting attendees to gather any comments on the accuracy and scope of the minutes and then approved by the board at their next meeting. The approved minutes are a permanent record.

Meeting Minutes Best Practices

There are certain strategies to keep in mind if you’re assigned to take minutes for your board of directors:

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• Create a Note Taking Outline – Prior to the meeting attain a copy of the meeting agenda. This will help you get an idea of what issues are going to be covered and help you organize a note-taking outline. Creating a note-taking outline will enable you to be a better listener and note-taker.
• Be Selective – Meeting minutes should be specific enough to prove the board was focused on the business at hand, but not so detailed as to pose a liability to the organization. But keep in mind that, while you want your minutes to be “short and sweet,” they should not be so minimal as to obscure how the board decided a matter.

How Minutes Work in a Board Portal

There are many ways board portals handle integrated note taking, often through tools built within the application or through integrations with software like Microsoft Office.

Further Reading