Meeting Minutes

Joyce, perhaps if an outline of what you expect to be in the minutes is provided to the person recording the minutes it might help. Also, you may want to look at Robert's Rules of Order to see what needs to be recorded in the minutes; I don't believe an "understanding of the business" of the meeting is listed. Motions and results of votes, and possibly (on rare occasions) limited infomation on discussion of a very significant motion form the 'heart' of the minutes.

The person taking the minutes should be using an agenda for starters. We have a hired person (could be a volunteer) who just TYPES what she hears. (What she types then gets cleaned up and formatted). She has the agenda with a lot of space between items, to start with.It is most difficult to type AND differentiate the contents of the discussion. The Secretary and at least 2 others are also taking notes to verify what was said. We use a motion form that I developed for all motions. No motion comes before the board (except the typical no-brainer ones like a motion to adjourn) without that form. (If someone can tell me how I can post it to here, I would be glad to do that. It is a Word document.) That way the person typing the minutes has all the information in writing. We encourage pre notification on motions.

As for a tape recorder, it is very hard to transcribe from one, unless you can type as fast as the talking goes (oddly enough, I can type nearly that fast).

RR is very clear on what has to be in the minutes. An easy rule to follow: The minutes are not meant to include every single detail that was discussed. They are to describe WHAT was done, not what everyone said. The committee reports we have have to be in writing, and they are attached to the minutes.