Business meeting outline and minutes

Yes. You really need to keep minutes.

This is a normal business meeting agenda. The comments on the right explain why it is important. The big trick is to use this to become more effective and cover everything, not as a way to waste time.

The minutes follow a very similar pattern, except that they must also have a list of persons present (including persons by proxy), and a list of apologies. Minutes should be signed.

Although conventions for organizational minutes are not uniform, the following are necessary:

The name and date of the meeting is accurately recorded.
It is an accurate record of the meeting.
It uses full names in the list of persons present.
It uses a system of numbering.
It uses full sentences stating the decision that was made, that is, not just notes.

If it is helpful, you can also mention other things:

items discussed where no decision was made,
reasons given for the decisions,
a summary of the discussion of factors considered in decisions,
reminders to individuals of tasks assigned to them.

In some cases, the chairperson might ask you to omit contentious or embarrassing matters from the minutes. Unless the whole board agrees otherwise, it is the chairperson's decision. However, the final form of the minutes must still be an accurate record of the meeting.

They also need to be formal documents for several reasons:

Minutes are the official record of the decision that was made, so they need to be as clear as possible. Once approved. the wording of decisions in the minutes is the actual decision, even if people remember them differently. (Most people at the meeting will forget the details of what was decided and depend on the minutes.)
The regulators of corporations can ask for them, although they probably only would if they suspect something untoward.
Banks sometimes want copies of minutes for decisions regarding financial or bank business.
Financial auditors might need to check them.
In education, many accreditors check that the Board handled its business responsibly, so they might check Board minutes.
You might be subjected to a management audit, i.e. a check that everything that the organization does has a chain of authorization up to the board minutes.
It almost never happens, but minutes must be clear and definitive enough to use in court.

Agenda segment	Purpose
Name of organization [E.g. XYZ Inc.] Name of document or meeting [E.g. Minutes of Board meeting] Date, time, place	Clearly identifies the exact meeting.
List of those present	The minutes of smaller meetings simply list the full names of those present. Larger meetings circulate a list for people to fill out, which is then appended to the minutes.
Open the meeting	Many minute keepers like to record the time the meeting opened.
Check that someone is keeping minutes	If it doesn't get written down, you didn't do it. The Secretary is usually responsible for keeping minutes, but he/she can appoint someone else to be a minutes secretary.
Ascertain a quorum	A quorum means that enough people have shown up to make official decisions: If an ordinary meeting doesn't have a quorum, you can continue the meeting and make decisions, but they need to be ratified later on. If an Annual General Meeting doesn't have a quorum, do whatever the organization's constitution says. (E.g., the AGM might be abandoned and another AGM would be called for the following month.) If an item is urgent and a delayed decision would put the organization at serious risk, hold the meeting anyway.
Adoption of agenda and any changes	Commit yourself to a plan for the meeting.
Minutes of previous meeting	Confirm that you have an accurate record of what you decided the last time you met. Either approve them as they are or approve them subject to specific changes.
Business arising from the minutes	Follow up on anything that was supposed to be done since then or that was deferred from the last meeting.
CEO/chairperson report	What's happening? The meeting is then open to others to ask about anything in the report, or that should have been in the report.
Financial report	How are we doing financially? If the person in charge of finances is a board member, he/she is called the Treasurer. If he/she is an employee, the title is Chief Financial Officer. The meeting is then open to others to ask about anything in the report, or that should have been in the report.
Correspondence	Any important mail that needs mentioning? Some only needs to be officially noted in the minutes. Some will need decisions on how to respond. Routine mail does not need to be mentioned at all.
Business arising	What decisions do you need to make? At the end of a small meeting, it is helpful for the chairperson to ask each person if they want to add something.
Next meeting	While everybody is together, it's a good time to decide on the date, time, and place of your next meeting.
Close the meeting	Many minute keepers like to record the time of meeting closure.
Assigned tasks	Some minute keepers like to record any tasks that have been set so that people have a reminder of tasks they have been given: • the task • who was given the task • the date by which it is to be done • any reporting.