White Paper: Everything You Need To Know About Meeting Minutes

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Taking effective meeting minutes is an essential best practice for your board. Often times, minutes are taken by either an elected Secretary or an administrative professional. This person is doing a lot more than merely taking notes, though. What they are actually doing is creating a formal record of discussions, decisions, and actions taken.

This record serves as a single source of truth that directors and staff can refer back to when determining what was decided, what needs to be done in follow-up, and by what date.

Ultimately, minutes help to ensure continuity from one meeting to the next and over time to one group of board members and leaders to the next

Learn Everything You Need to Know About Meeting Minutes

We’ve published a new white paper by Bonnie Oakes Charron of Board Concierge. Entitled Everything You Need To Know About Meeting Minutes, the white paper examines everything you need to know about meeting minutes, including:

• What meeting minutes are
• Why meeting minutes are important
• How to write effective minutes to drive good governance

Offering insights for everyone from beginners with little formal training or support to seasoned professionals, Bonnie shares in-depth insights and answers to the most common questions about meeting minutes. A free template is included so you can get started taking more effective minutes immediately.

Download your FREE copy of Everything You Need To Know About Meeting Minutes today!

Excerpt from the White Paper

The following is an excerpt from Everything You Need To Know About Meeting Minutes:

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Meeting Minutes are the official record of what occurred at a meeting. They protect against liability, provide evidence of decisions, and create a clear list of actions and next steps. Minutes play a crucial role on both sides of the board table – executives and directors. Minutes provide the evidence that management has delivered the information directors need to provide effective oversight, while also documenting that the directors have fulfilled their duty to make decisions that will successfully guide the organization.

When people first start taking Minutes, they are often thrust into the situation with little formal training or support. Unfortunately, learning “on the job” risks mistakes that could have legal implications. It doesn’t have to be this way. Here, we set out to answer the most common questions about meeting Minutes, provide a template for use, and offer concrete tips to make your meeting Minutes more effective.

Who is responsible for meeting minutes?

When it comes to Minutes, and who is responsible for them, it will vary with the nature of your organization. In a larger organization, there may be a corporate secretary to oversee the minutes process, but the actual notes may be drafted by other governance or administrative staff – at least in their draft version.

In a small business or not-for-profit, it may be the CEO or Executive Director who drafts the minutes or approves the draft after their Executive Assistant completes most of the work.

Learn About Minutes Builder for OnBoard

Recently, we introduced Minutes Builder for OnBoard and we’ve seen a massive outpouring of interest. This new capability enables teams to take minutes in real-time using their meeting agenda as a template and demonstrates how we are always working to help make our customers’ meetings more efficient and productive.

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