I take a small tape recorder to each meeting and record the meeting. Then, later at home, I type up the minutes from this recording. It has proven invaluable in helping me to remember just exactly how something was phrased, not how I interpreted it and noted it. I also take notes, just in case the tape fails, but this rarely happens. I don't miss much with this approach! Hope it helps. I agree that minutes should be as detailed as possible so that you can go back and see what was decided on and why. It is amazing how sometimes everyone has a different take on what was decided.
I am the recording Secretary for our PTO and the way I go about handling the minutes is like this, the President gives me her agenda so I know what is going to be talked about in advance. I write all Officers reports and comments then committee reports and comments and then comments from the floor. Anytime someone speaks from the floor I record their full name and if there is a vote on the subject I record the count of the vote such as 12 yes 14 no 2 abstained. I also have a sign in sheet so I know what will constitute a quorum for the meeting. If the vote needs to pass by 2/3 you need to know how many are in attendance. I also record who seconded the Motion made. I hope I am making sense. My best advice to you is to write down everything and anything while at the meeting and do your minutes as soon as possible after the meeting while mind is fresh. You can edit your own notes from meeting to make your minutes as long or as brief as your organization seems to like.
Good Luck and most of all have fun!
You don't know how many times we have had to go back to our minutes and find something that we've forgotten or that someone needed more info on. So, better to write it all down and be safe. As long as your hand doesn't get tired, who cares how much you write? People will read what they want, whether short or long.
Good luck!
I don't believe the minutes should be word for word, but they should be detailed. In corporate offices, minutes of meetings are detailed and later shared that all can agree with what was discussed and decided. It is can also be used as a 'Cover Your Butt' tool.
I think there's a difference between minutes and what kate's talking about. All of our committee chairs have control of the committee file for their committee where they keep best ideas and what worked and what didn't work on every project. They also keep a file of companies (or performers for enrichment) they can call on.
Our minutes are much less detailed and they are more a summary of the meeting not a word by word account.
