Expert: Leslie - 8/12/2011

Question
Hello, I have a question about taking minutes at a board meeting for an organisation (I'm the secretary). Our agenda items are numbered. Until recently I recorded the minutes by the same number as in the agenda. I was then told (by an expert minute taker) that if an item wasn't discussed at the meeting then I should ignore it in the minutes. This means that the numbered items in the minutes do not reflect the numbered agenda items. e.g. if Item 4 in the agenda is "xx committee" and we have no report, then Item 4 in the minutes will be whatever is discussed next. Is this correct, or should the numbers for both agenda and minutes be the same (with the text 'not discussed' for items that are skipped over - e.g. if there is no time)? Thank you for your assistance.

Answer
Mathea,

If you are asking for rules about writing minutes for meetings, I have not seen any. Most meeting minutes are written according the the custom of the organization. For formal report forms, however, you may want to look at some of the models that Microsoft Word offers. They have meeting minutes and agenda formats that allow the secretary like you to fill in.

I like your numbering system. It ties the agenda item to the meeting minutes. Your critic who said items not discussed at the meeting should not be included may want to consider the fact that an item tabled for another meeting should be mentioned. If an item is dropped from the agenda, some note of why the item was dropped should also be mentioned. Adding a descriptor next to the number will also help the person who sees the minutes, but does not have access to the agenda, make sense of your notes.

Example agenda (simplified)
1. Picnic plans
2. Treasury report
3. School clothing drive
4. Holiday donations
5. Membership drive

Example meeting minutes (simplified)
1. G. Smythe reported that he has arranged for the refreshments... [blah blah}
Action item: M. Pickens will arrange for the plates, spoons... [blah blah]
2. Treasury report. The treasurers report has been tabled until September because... [blah blah]
3. School clothing drive. A. George reported that 150 children received... [blah blah]
Action item: A. George will arrange to take the remaining clothing to... [blah blah]
4. Holiday donations. To allocate holiday donations, the committee will need the details from the treasury report. This item has been tabled until...[blah blah]
5. Membership drive. The executive committee has determined that a membership drive is not needed.

New business
[blah blah]

I hope this is helpful for you.

Leslie