Individuals who take minutes often ask this question: “What should I do if an outspoken and assertive member of my Board insists that certain things must be recorded in the minutes?” The best cure is to have the Board formally approve minute taking standards.

Minutes should not be a “free-for-all”. The secretary should not be subjected to demands by individuals who insist that the minutes be recorded a certain way, or that they contain certain remarks. However, as much as the above notion makes sense, it does not help the secretary when confronted by a member who seems very passionate about the minutes or when such a member uses his or her clout to dictate how things should be done. What do you do when a member says: or implies that “I am a voting member, and you are just the secretary. Obey me, or else…”

To deal with such confrontations effectively, you need an objective tool. You need something that will transcend the wishes of individuals and will reflect something more compelling and powerful. You need democratically adopted minute taking standards.

Here is what you can do: Prepare a set of minute taking standards for the members, stating what should and should not be recorded in minutes (for ideas you may wish to check Chapter 8 of “The Complete Handbook of Business Meetings” (click on www.elimina.com/books for details).

Having prepared the proposed minute taking standards, attach sample minutes, and ask the chair to circulate them to the members for review. Try this opener when you speak to your chair: “Ruth, in past meetings members were often arguing about what should go in the minutes, and this created tension among them. Based on a course I’ve taken, I drafted minute taking standards. I suggest that they be circulated to members, and that they be voted on - with or without amendments - at a future meeting. I believe this will resolve the issue and prevent future arguments about the minutes. What do you think? Does this sound like a good idea?”

Once the minute taking standards are formally approved as a policy of the group, you will have an objective tool that will help you deal with strong demands by individuals. You will be able to tell them something like this: “Tim, I can see that you want the minutes recorded this way. At the same time, I am operating under the Board policy on minutes. Here is a copy of it. As you can see, the policy states that minutes are not to be recorded as you are suggesting. I have to follow official policy”.