What to Include and What to Leave Out of Board Meeting Minutes
The minutes of board meetings are a crucial tool for creating transparency, accountability and risk mitigation. The way in which your minutes are written will either decide the effectiveness of your minutes. Incorrect, incongruous or unclear minutes of meetings could be a problem in the future, if they ever need to be used for legal reasons. It’s important to understand the information that should be included and what information should be not included.
The date time, location and date This ensures that the minutes are a true account of the meeting. It is important to note of whether the meeting was regular or a special one.
Include the key aspects of any reports that were submitted to the board, along with any alternatives that were considered in the making of important decisions. Also, you should record the outcomes of the decision making process, including any votes taken.
Attendance: Having a consistent person record minutes at each meeting, and also a backup if they are absent and more precise virtual boardroom tools minutes. It’s also beneficial to use minutes from the past as templates so that any new minute-taker is familiar with the process.
Stay focused on the facts, not the drama of the moment Be sure to keep personal arguments or disagreements, and political commentary out of your time. Jokes, idle chats and recaps of current events and any other unrelated conversations should be left out of the minutes too. It’s also important to keep track of any modifications to the minutes.