Minutes of board meetings are an essential element of ensuring that good governance is in place for any company or non-profit institution. However, writing effective board meeting minutes can be tricky. Boards need to be careful not to include anything which could infringe their legal or ethical obligations. It is also crucial that the person taking minutes avoids including any personal opinion or bias that could appear unprofessional.
Attendance: A list of people who attended a meeting, either in person or via telephone or via webcast. This will help track down if a board member was late or absent and also to confirm that the correct number of voters were present at each vote.
Agenda The agenda is a list of topics which will be discussed during the meeting. The agenda is usually sent out prior to the meeting to give the members time to read the agenda before the meeting begins.
Minutes: Official record of a meeting usually prepared by the secretary of the board or other staff members. Minutes should contain https://boardroombox.com/is-membership-management-software-good-for-small-nonprofits/ a brief summary for each item, along with the action taken and who was either in favor or against it. To ensure clarity and readability the minutes must be concise and well-written. The final copy should contain all documents mentioned in minutes.
Minutes should not include any side discussions or off-the-record comments unless they are directly related to an agenda item. If the discussion has nothing to do with the item on the agenda it is important to note that a tangent topic was discussed but not documented in detail.