Meetings provide an opportunity for issues to be discussed either briefly or at length. Lots of ideas which could help in solving a problem being addressed are normally verbally expressed. It could help to note these points down for future use or they could alternatively serve as evidence in a given agreement. It will also be good to keep a record of those who are in attendance as well as those members who could not make it for the meeting. A lot of people refrain from taking meeting minutes, a work that has been formally made to be for the secretaries.

Minutes can be defined as the official records kept by an organization. It is paramount that these records are taken accurately since they are a legal record of the actions as well as the proceedings of a given organization.

If you find yourself in a situation which requires you to take minutes you don’t need to be so worked up about this. Our site provides a convenient way of going about this by providing you with meeting minutes templates, feel free to use them. Whether it is an official meeting or an informal one we got your back with our meeting notes templates that simplify the whole process.

Meeting Minutes Templates

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There are various types of meeting Minutes templates which are categorized depending on the type of meeting to be held. These are formal meeting minutes template, basic meeting minutes template as well as detailed meeting minutes template.

The formal meeting minutes template

This template has been designed in a way that is in line with recommendations of the 11th edition of the R0bert’s Rules of Order. It’s a manual that is mostly used in governing the interactions of members of parliamentary organizations. It provides an easier way of including all the key information that ought to be preserved in each minute that is held.

The basic meeting minutes template

This template is quite a useful tool for those who want to have a guide on how to take minutes for an informal meeting as opposed to the strict rules that are applied for a formal meeting. As such you will not encounter any special table-based formatting. It is designed in a way that makes it to be easily customized to meet a given client’s needs.

Detailed meeting minutes template

In case one wants to keep track of more details of the meetings you are having, this template will be quite handy. This meeting Minutes template easily allows you to fill all the critical information and this will be done in an orderly manner in well-organized tables.

 

Some tips to help you keep meeting minutes using the Robert’s Rules:

  • Usually the secretary is the one who is in charge of keeping the minutes records for each and every meeting. During each meeting the minutes of the previous meeting are read and approved, some corrections can be made where need be. After this is done the minutes are added to the organization’s Minutes binder and this is done for each meeting.
  • In case a motion is adopted by means of roll call voting. You are supposed to list the names of all those people who voted for that motion as well as those who voted against the motion. This is better than totaling the names of those who took part in the exercise
  • The secretary is also supposed to sign and date the minutes after they are approved at the next meeting.
  • For minutes that will require publishing, more details will have to be included in the minutes. For instance a summary of the statements by each person who spoke on either side of an issue ought to be included.

How to effectively write and keep meeting minutes

  • The first paragraph should have details elaborating the kind of meeting being held; a formal meeting or an informal one, the name of the organization as well as the time and date of meeting and the chosen location. The name of the presiding officer as well as that of the secretary, the approximate number of members who were present, the establishment of a quorum as well as the actions taken for the minutes of the previous meeting.
  • The body is normally made of motions which are addressed in each separate paragraph. What should be included in each motion are;
    • The exact wording of each motion whether it passed or failed. This should also be accompanied by the name of the maker as well as the way it was disposed if at all it failed.
    • The votes should be counted and this count needs to be recorded. In case there are teller reports this should also be included. For roll call votes the record of each person’s vote should be included.
    • Notices for each motion, in some cases the previous notice is required of instance the amendments of the bylaws.
    • Point of order as well as those of appeal
  • The last paragraph usually marks the hour of adjournment.
  • The things which are not included;
    • The opinion or the interpretation made by the secretary
    • Any phrases that appear to be judgmental in nature
    • Discussions; try as much as possible to capture what was done or agreed on but not everything that was said or mentioned at the meeting.
    • Any motion that was withdrawn
    • The name of the seconder is unnecessary in the minutes
  • As regards attachments; the official copy of the meeting original copies of the following documents attached to it;
    • Committee reports
    • Written reports
    • Officers reports
    • Tellers reports
    • Correspondence
  • The approval process of the meeting can be made to be ridiculous easy and short by distributing the minutes to the members before the next meeting. In this case all the presiding officer will have to say is ask for any corrections on the minutes that have been printed. For a situation that does not have any corrections or amends that need to be made on the minutes, the presiding officer will declare that the meeting minutes are approved as have been printed.
  • Signatures are normally appended after the approval of the minutes. The secretary and the president signatures are the ones which are appended. The word approved should also be included in the minutes at this section.
  • The use of a Minutes Book; an official copy of the minutes should be entered in the Minutes book and this should be kept by the secretary. This is considered to part of the property of an organization and in the case where there is a headquarter office, this should serve as the storage location.
  • In case the members receive a copy of the minutes it won’t be necessary to include copies of the attachments. An alternative is to give a brief account of the attachments in the minutes.

Annual meetings and Convention minutes

The minutes of an annual meeting or a convention should be taken by the secretary with the help of the Minutes Approval Committee members. A skeleton of the meetings should be prepared by the secretary before the annual meeting. Some items that might be useful in this are the agenda, a program, the previous minutes as well as the script. What is to be expected in the meeting acts as a guide of how the skeleton should be like. It is prudent to leave as many spaces in the skeleton as possible in anticipation of the additional motions to be recorded or any corrections that will have to be made.

Copies of the skeletal minutes are supposed to be given to the secretary, the members of the Minutes Approval Committee as well as the parliamentarian. These people will then use the skeletal minutes during the minutes and they will have to fill in the empty spaces as seems fit. Immediately after each business meeting the secretary and the Minutes Approval Committee will have to meet and agree upon the minutes for that meeting. After the last business meeting of a given convention the secretary will then make a final copy of the minutes, this being based on what was agreed upon by the committee. This final copy will then have to be reviewed by other members of the minute’s approval committee. In the event that everyone is in agreement with the final copy, they will append their signatures to the original copy and the approval of the meeting will have been done.

In case there is a transcript for a given meeting, the secretary is the one who is tasked with the job of reviewing the transcript to make sure that the minutes are accurate. In case the minutes have to be changed, all members of the Minutes Approval Committee should be in agreement with this and upon the changes that have to be made.

This site offer you with the best meeting Minutes template that you could use to simplify your work in a meticulous way. Follow the tips and guidelines recommended above and you will be amazed at how easy and perfect minute taking can turn out to be.

 

Some tips to help you keep meeting minutes using the Robert’s Rules:

  • Usually the secretary is the one who is in charge of keeping the minutes records for each and every meeting. During each meeting the minutes of the previous meeting are read and approved, some corrections can be made where need be. After this is done the minutes are added to the organization’s Minutes binder and this is done for each meeting.
  • In case a motion is adopted by means of roll call voting. You are supposed to list the names of all those people who voted for that motion as well as those who voted against the motion. This is better than totaling the names of those who took part in the exercise
  • The secretary is also supposed to sign and date the minutes after they are approved at the next meeting.
  • For minutes that will require publishing, more details will have to be included in the minutes. For instance a summary of the statements by each person who spoke on either side of an issue ought to be included.

How to effectively write and keep meeting minutes

  • The first paragraph should have details elaborating the kind of meeting being held; a formal meeting or an informal one, the name of the organization as well as the time and date of meeting and the chosen location. The name of the presiding officer as well as that of the secretary, the approximate number of members who were present, the establishment of a quorum as well as the actions taken for the minutes of the previous meeting.
  • The body is normally made of motions which are addressed in each separate paragraph. What should be included in each motion are;
    • The exact wording of each motion whether it passed or failed. This should also be accompanied by the name of the maker as well as the way it was disposed if at all it failed.
    • The votes should be counted and this count needs to be recorded. In case there are teller reports this should also be included. For roll call votes the record of each person’s vote should be included.
    • Notices for each motion, in some cases the previous notice is required of instance the amendments of the bylaws.
    • Point of order as well as those of appeal
  • The last paragraph usually marks the hour of adjournment.
  • The things which are not included;
    • The opinion or the interpretation made by the secretary
    • Any phrases that appear to be judgmental in nature
    • Discussions; try as much as possible to capture what was done or agreed on but not everything that was said or mentioned at the meeting.
    • Any motion that was withdrawn
    • The name of the seconder is unnecessary in the minutes
  • As regards attachments; the official copy of the meeting original copies of the following documents attached to it;
    • Committee reports
    • Written reports
    • Officers reports
    • Tellers reports
    • Correspondence
  • The approval process of the meeting can be made to be ridiculous easy and short by distributing the minutes to the members before the next meeting. In this case all the presiding officer will have to say is ask for any corrections on the minutes that have been printed. For a situation that does not have any corrections or amends that need to be made on the minutes, the presiding officer will declare that the meeting minutes are approved as have been printed.
  • Signatures are normally appended after the approval of the minutes. The secretary and the president signatures are the ones which are appended. The word approved should also be included in the minutes at this section.
  • The use of a Minutes Book; an official copy of the minutes should be entered in the Minutes book and this should be kept by the secretary. This is considered to part of the property of an organization and in the case where there is a headquarter office, this should serve as the storage location.
  • In case the members receive a copy of the minutes it won’t be necessary to include copies of the attachments. An alternative is to give a brief account of the attachments in the minutes.

Annual meetings and Convention minutes

The minutes of an annual meeting or a convention should be taken by the secretary with the help of the Minutes Approval Committee members. A skeleton of the meetings should be prepared by the secretary before the annual meeting. Some items that might be useful in this are the agenda, a program, the previous minutes as well as the script. What is to be expected in the meeting acts as a guide of how the skeleton should be like. It is prudent to leave as many spaces in the skeleton as possible in anticipation of the additional motions to be recorded or any corrections that will have to be made.

Copies of the skeletal minutes are supposed to be given to the secretary, the members of the Minutes Approval Committee as well as the parliamentarian. These people will then use the skeletal minutes during the minutes and they will have to fill in the empty spaces as seems fit. Immediately after each business meeting the secretary and the Minutes Approval Committee will have to meet and agree upon the minutes for that meeting. After the last business meeting of a given convention the secretary will then make a final copy of the minutes, this being based on what was agreed upon by the committee. This final copy will then have to be reviewed by other members of the minute’s approval committee. In the event that everyone is in agreement with the final copy, they will append their signatures to the original copy and the approval of the meeting will have been done.

In case there is a transcript for a given meeting, the secretary is the one who is tasked with the job of reviewing the transcript to make sure that the minutes are accurate. In case the minutes have to be changed, all members of the Minutes Approval Committee should be in agreement with this and upon the changes that have to be made.

This site offer you with the best meeting Minutes template that you could use to simplify your work in a meticulous way. Follow the tips and guidelines recommended above and you will be amazed at how easy and perfect minute taking can turn out to be. Taking meeting notes won’t be hard with the help of our meeting notes templates.

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Tagged:BusinessMeetingsNotes
TemplateLab November 4th, 2021