![]() Although meeting minutes are highly customized and may vary across organizations, consider recording the basic details below as part of the process, using a professional objective tone. It is also important to avoid distractions. Focus entirely on listening so that you may accurately capture information during the board meeting’s presentations, discussions, and Q&A sessions. Attentive listening throughout the meeting is critical. Gathering key details during the board meeting pays off, helping reduce the risk of inaccuracies and post-meeting back-and-forth. The corporate secretary can quickly ask for clarifications or details from the chair without disrupting the flow of the board meeting. Sitting near the board chair creates an opportunity to easily communicate during the board meeting. Should meeting minutes fall under the scrutiny of litigation, a consistent approach is tangible evidence of a board’s intent to be accountable and transparent. It is important that an organization and its corporate governance team follow a consistent format, timeline, and process for recording meeting minutes. Board meeting minutes are essential to demonstrating accountability and disclosure to shareholders, employees, investors, and regulators. Board portal software allows corporate secretaries to create and save meeting minutes templates for recurring use. Corporate counsel may be able to assist in developing a meeting minutes template that meets internal needs. Leave large empty fields between template sections for taking meeting minutes. Language for proposed motions and board actions can be added to a template ahead of time, along with references to board documents. A robust meeting minutes template liberates corporate secretaries from transcribing basic information-such as attendance lists, date, time, and location-and allows them to focus on capturing important decisions, motions, and key deliberations. In addition, meeting minutes from the previous board meeting should be revisited to aid preparedness. Intimate knowledge of the board meeting agenda, board books, supporting materials, and other key documents helps the corporate secretary follow the conversation and anticipate the discussion points, actions, and motions that should be recorded in the meeting minutes. Make sure you are able to take the notes home afterward without smudging them so you are able to use them to type up minutes. If you are asked to take notes publicly during the meeting, use an overhead projector or presentation easel.Learning a shorthand will speed up note taking, but you do not need to be able to take down every word in order to take minutes.If you do record the meeting, make sure everyone present consents and do not give in to the temptation to create a word-for-word transcript. While an audio recorder can help you transcribe the minutes later, it is not a substitute for note taking. ![]() ![]() If you took minutes at an earlier meeting and they have not been submitted for approval, make sure to bring those with you as well.If you will be writing minutes often, set aside a notebook for this purpose, or create a folder on your computer. Make sure that whatever you bring is something you are comfortable with. Having one to refer will help you organize your meeting notes.īring a notebook or laptop with you. If the chairman or meeting facilitator has not asked you to draft the agenda, they should have one available upon request. An additional signature may be required when the minutes are approved, according to your organization's policies. As the minute taker, you will always sign your work. Note whether a quorum is present (the number of people sufficient to carry out votes). This is a fancy term for attendance sheet. List of "attendees" and "apologies of absentees".Name of chairman or meeting leader & name of secretary (or their substitutes).Leave space for the start and end times (convening and adjourning). Is this a regular weekly or annual meeting, a smaller committee meeting, or a meeting convened for a special purpose? Include space for the following information at minimum. A template creates one consistent format for ease of reference. Each meeting's minutes will contain much of the same information.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |