Best practices for taking board meeting minutes
Most boards meet a few times a year to discuss important matters, carry out votes, and push through new policies. Board meeting minutes are important to these gatherings since they record information such as who was present and what outcomes were decided upon.
In many jurisdictions, including the United States, it is a legal requirement for businesses to keep a record of meeting minutes for a certain amount of time, should these need to be referred to in future legal proceedings. Therefore, knowing how to take minutes at a board meeting is a vital skill that shouldn’t be overlooked.
To ensure that you’re collecting the right information, keeping your board members fully in the loop, and adhering to legal guidelines, it’s important to impose some best practices when taking meeting minutes. Below are some tips we recommend you follow to ensure you create concise and useful minutes when meeting with your board.
What are board meeting minutes?
Minutes are a record of what occurred during a board meeting and contain essential information such as:
Date and location
Start and adjournment times
Group name and meeting purpose
Meeting chair and secretary names
Attendees
Approval of previous meeting’s minutes
Brief notes on reports
Unfinished business
Motions and votes
There is no need to include personal views or word-for-word discussions between members. The minutes need to simply summarize what happened during the meeting in a professional and concise manner.
Best practices for meeting minutes
Taking meeting minutes doesn’t have to be a complex process. Below are our top tips for meeting minute-taking to provide a clear summary of the gathering’s outcomes.
1. Create a clear meeting agenda
The first step to great minute-taking is to create an effective board meeting agenda. Look at previous agendas and minutes, and make sure to include any topics that were missed in the last session. If you’re using board management software like BoardWorks™ from Computershare, then you’ll be able to find all this information stored in the portal.
Alongside looking at past documents, the board secretary should gather issues from board directors for discussion, before compiling and sending out the agenda. A clear meeting plan ensures you will cover all necessary topics helping you take meaningful minutes.
2. Record meeting attendees, date, and time
At the start of every board meeting, you should note down key information such as the date, time, meeting location, and attendees. Not only does this help people know who made decisions and when, but these minutes also act as evidence in potential legal issues.
3. Note down only essential information
A common mistake when taking board meeting minutes is that the meeting secretary or administrator often notes down too much detail, including what was said verbatim and by whom.
The details are not essential to record; only motions and final decisions must be noted. Not only does this ensure meeting minutes are concise and accurately reflect the meeting outcome, but it means that directors can look back at the minutes from the meeting and refresh their minds on previous motions and voting results, without being distracted by all the details.
4. Record motions and voting results
You must record all motions and amendments, including who introduced the motion and who seconded it. You should also include any moves to investigate motions or postpone them.
It’s also necessary to have a written account of voting outcomes, including the number of ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘abstain’ votes as well as how the voting was done.
5. Store and share the minutes with members
After the meeting, it is essential that you write up, store, and share the minutes with board members, preferably using a secure board software tool that provides remote access to users. It’s important to have a copy of these meetings stored for future reference so that members can easily refer to them and be fully up to date with meeting decisions.
How BoardWorks can help you manage your meeting minutes
Considering how important meeting minutes are, using board management software to take meeting notes is more essential than ever. With a program like BoardWorks, you can create, store, and share board meeting minutes in a completely safe location. With BoardWorks, you can upload the minutes to the platform immediately after the gathering and send them to the relevant members.
Since meeting minutes often contain sensitive information, using a program like BoardWorks, which offers security features such as user access controls and two-factor authentication login, is critical. Better yet, Computershare spends millions of dollars per year on security processes, meaning your board information is in safe hands and protected by the best encryption methods.
Interested in learning more about BoardWorks and how it can help you with your meeting minutes? Click here to speak to a customer representative or arrange a demo today.