Minutes of the board meeting are a critical record of important information and governance processes. When well prepared and endorsed they form the basis for post-decision evaluations and assist boards in holding themselves accountable to their agreed-upon decisions. They also can prevent the board from making any future mistakes that could be detrimental for the organisation’s stakeholder.

Minutes are typically written by a board member who is the chairman or someone from the organisation’s staff. It could be a scribe who has experience of writing board minutes or an experienced secretary who is familiar with the content that should and shouldn’t be included. It is crucial that the person who writes the draft minutes is aware of the requirements. This will enable them create notes that are unique and lend the board meetings credibility.

The first thing that is required is a description of the date, time and location of the board meeting because this is crucial to the accuracy of minutes. The next thing to do is create an outline of the presiding officers directors, directors and non-voting attendees. It is important to note whether any of the attendees attended via phone or via the internet.

The minutes should be separated into two sections including online board meetings substantive business. Administrative business may include things like agenda approval, a summary of previous minutes and the use of an agenda that is a consent (which reduces the necessity for debate by acknowledging regular or administrative issues with a single motion). Substantive business is more content-heavy items like updates from committees, briefings on risk management and decisions regarding new service initiatives.