The minutes of board meetings are the official record of a board’s actions and decisions. They are important for many reasons, such as legal implications, governance policy and even accountability. They should be easy to understand, accurate and clear.
Keep your minutes as brief and clear as you can in order to avoid spending time on lengthy elaborations and keep the focus on key decisions discussions, actions, and discussions. This can be especially helpful for boards with limited resources and deadlines that are tight.
The design or structure of your minutes will differ according online board meetings to your company’s culture and needs as well as the style. However, there are a few key elements that you should think about. These key points include:
Time and date of the meeting: Making clear when the board meeting occurred will help future readers to understand what took place. It’s also a good idea to note the type of meeting (whether regular or special).
Content: Examine the information in the minutes to ensure that it accurately reflects what took place during the meeting. Examine for any mistakes or omissions, and cross-reference the information with other documents. Also, make sure that all agreed-upon action items and follow-up tasks are documented in the minutes. This includes any follow-up or action items that were discussed during executive sessions (private or in-camera portions of the meeting that deal with sensitive topics such as alleged misconduct, personnel matters, or financial issues with the auditor). These conversations should not be included in the minutes of the board meeting but should be recorded in the minutes of the closed session.