The minutes writing process

Living Democracy » Principals » COMMUNICATION » Preparation » The minutes writing process

The minutes writing process: Once the meeting is over, organize the notes and write the minutes. Here are some tips that might help the recorder. Share it with him/her and get feedback, if these simple tips help.

Tips for the recorder of a meeting.

Be aware: YOUR MINUTES provide transparency and therefore important elements of democracy in your school! Be proud of it! And use your power in a responsible way.
Try to write the minutes as soon as possible after the meeting.
Review your outline and, if necessary, create additional notes or clarify issues raised.
Edit to ensure clarity, so the minutes are easy to read.
Write in the same tense throughout.
Avoid using the participants’ names except for motions.
Avoid personal comments.
If you need to refer to other documents, attach them in an appendix or indicate where they may be found. Don’t rewrite or summarize them.

Distributing or Sharing Meeting Minutes

As the head of a school, you want the minutes to be transparent and easy to work with. It is your role to disseminate them. A closed section on the school website is a good place. It gives access, it is well stored, and you don’t use too much paper. The method of sharing or distribution will depend on the tools that you and your school use. For example, if you use a word processing tool that does not offer online sharing, you might want to create a PDF of the document and send this and the other attachments or documents via email. However, before you share these, be sure that they are reviewed and either revised and/or approved for circulation.