Taking Board Meeting Minutes

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Taking Board Meeting Minutes

– Step by Step
Step 1: Preparation for the Board Meeting • Open discussion or public participation
• Next meeting date and time
Every organization records their minutes a little bit • Time of adjournment
differently. Have a discussion with the board president
about any current or expected formats that you are How you detail the discussions during a board
expected to use. Review past meeting minutes to use meeting is as important as making sure to include
as a template. Ask the board president for a copy of the all of the information in the bullets shown above.
meeting agenda, including the names of all attendees, For each agenda item, write a short statement of
including guests or speakers. each action taken by the board, along with a brief
explanation of the rationale for their decision. If there
Step 2: Taking a Record of the are extensive arguments, write a succinct summary of
Board Meeting the major arguments.
Unless your organization requires you to type notes Record discussions objectively, avoiding inflammatory
at the meeting, you can either type them out or write remarks and personal observations. A good way to do
them longhand. The two most important things to this is by avoiding adjectives and adverbs whenever
know when taking the record of the meeting is what possible. Check your language to be sure that it is clear,
information to record and how to present it. unambiguous, and complete.
Meeting minutes should include: Minutes are an official and legal record of the board
meeting. In a legal arena, meeting minutes are
• Date of the meeting
presumed to be correct and can be used as legal
• Time the meeting was called to order
evidence of the facts they report. Document board
• Names of the meeting participants and absentees
discussions to accurately reflect the actions and
• Corrections and amendments to previous
intentions of the board directors. Boards have legal
meeting minutes
liability, so keep information basic and language
• Additions to the current agenda
simple to avoid any legal complications that place
• Whether a quorum is present
the organization at a disadvantage in any legal
• Motions taken or rejected
proceedings. Use names only when recording motions
• Voting-that there was a motion and second, and
and seconds.
the outcome of the vote
• Actions taken or agreed to be taken
After the meeting, you will want to write the formal
• Next steps
record when everything is still fresh in your mind, so
• Items to be held over
prepare the record as soon after the meeting as you
• New business
possibly can.
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Step 3: Writing the official record of board Step 4: Signing, filing, and sharing minutes
meeting minutes
Once your meeting minutes are fully written, you are
Review the agenda to gain the full scope of the responsible for making them official by having the
meeting. Add notes for clarification. Review actions, board secretary sign them. Your organization may also
motions, votes, and decisions for clarity. Edit the require the president’s signature.
record so that the minutes are succinct, clear, and
easy to read. Follow your organization’s by-laws and protocols
for storing minutes. It’s a good idea to have
It’s better to attach meeting handouts and documents back-up copies either in print, a hard drive, or
that were referred to during the meeting to the final (best case) a board portal. The secretary also has
copy, rather than summarizing the contents in the the responsibility for sharing minutes. Make sure the
minutes. president has approved the minutes before sharing in
print or online.
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