Minutes of the board meeting are a critical aspect of good governance. They that the board has a record of every discussion and decision. The responsibility for taking minutes of a meeting generally will be the responsibility of the secretary of the board or the person who is designated to the job.
The person who records meeting minutes must be competent to listen and record the entire discussion, even when some directors are debating a point or arguing over each other. The minutes may also be scrutinized in court should the company be sued, so they need to be as objective and impartial as they can be.
Identify the time, date and location of the meeting. This information is needed to organize your minutes following the meeting. It also makes it easy for readers to locate information quickly. It is also important to indicate if the meeting was regular, a special one, an emergency, or an executive session.
In the list, you should include all attendees of the meeting. This includes the presiding officers, board members, and non-voting participants like guests, staff and other attendees. A clear list of those in attendance is important particularly when recording meetings held remotely.
Include a brief summary of each item on the agenda. This can be done with a sentence or two of a summary that summarizes the major discussions as well as any significant decisions taken. It is important features of meeting management software to not include too excessive details. In fact, detailed minute books can overwhelm readers and make it difficult to comprehend the direction of the business.