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NITPICKING THE MINUTES
By Eli Mina, M.Sc.

The following table shows typical mistakes made by minute takers. It relies on material from "Mina’s Guide to Minute Taking." See http://www.elimina.com/minutes for details on this book.

The sample text The problem The better alternative
The Chair raps the gavel and calls the meeting to order at 1700. He welcomes the members and announces that a quorum is present.

Minutes are a historical record and should be written in the past tense.

Rapping the gavel” is not a significant historical fact.

 The Chair called the meeting to order at 5 p.m., welcomed the members, and announced that a quorum was present.
President Tom reported that we had a wonderful year and thanked our members wholeheartedly. Minutes should be written in the third person. Subjective language should not be recorded in the minutes. The President reported that the Foundation had a productive year and highlighted the following main achievements:
It was moved (J. Smith) and seconded (R. Jones) that, in compliance with the Act and the Bylaws, Peat Marwick Thorne be appointed auditor. The motion was overwhelmingly adopted.

Names of movers and seconders need not be recorded (for an archived article on this topic click here).

The text reads as though the Act and the Bylaws require PMT to be appointed auditor.

The name of the organization being audited and the term of appointment are not specified.

The word “overwhelmingly” does not belong in minutes.

It was moved and seconded that Peat Marwick Thorne be appointed auditors for the XYZ Foundation for the 2004-2005 fiscal year. The motion was adopted.

 


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Information about Eli Mina:

Eli Mina, M.Sc., PRP, is a Vancouver (Canada) based management consultant, executive coach, and Registered Parliamentarian. In business since 1984, Eli consults his clients on board effectiveness, chairing contentious meetings, preventing and dealing with disputes and dysfunctions, demystifying the rules of order, and minute taking standards. Eli's clients come from municipal government, school boards, regulatory bodies, credit unions, colleges and universities, native communities, businesses, and the non-profit sector.

Eli is the author of the newly published "101 Boardroom Problems and How to Solve Them." He is also the author of several other books and publications on meetings, shared decision-making and minute taking (see Eli Mina's Books at www.elimina.com ). Eli can be reached at 604-730-0377 or via e-mail at eli@elimina.com.


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