This is a place for us to post documents, discussions, etc that help us remember the structures and decisions that support how we do what we do.

This first post is an attachment that was presented to the board on Consensus Basics, by Alon, at the Nov/08 Orientation meeting.

Hello,

I am trying to locate the template for minute taking. Can anyone help me find it?

Thanks,

Nancy

Possible format for the minutes is as follows:

=====================================================
Committee Name: Finance Committee
Date:
Time:
Location: Station / downstairs
Minute status: {preliminary / approved}
Attendees: Hal, Cindy, Leah, Kimberly, Gord
/copy agenda here / and then expand minutes within each agenda item, or as in the case of not getting to it - mark “deferred” and why
Recorded by:
=====================================================

An alternative to separate posts for each meeting is to put the discussion / decisions in context with all previous such discussion / decisions. This way, the whole story, to date on one topic is all together for the reader. Place dates in front of each new entry. If the post gets too large, split out the larger topics to a post of their own. This means hopping around a bit when recording the minutes, but makes the end product more valuable in terms of Organizational Memory.

Kootenay Co-op Radio
Minutes of the Board Meeting
Date:
Started:  pm – adjourned at pm.
Location:

Board Members present:
Staff Present:
Members Present:
Time Keeper:
Minutes:

1.Check in & welcome:
2.Agenda and Minutes: copy agenda, mention that agenda was approved - amended, and minutes of last meeting approved - amended.
3.Time Keeper:
4.Actions Report:
5.Committee Goals Report:
6.
7.
8.
9..
10. Time and date for next meeting:
December 10th:  7:00-pm – at the station downstairs.

* Note: much of a meeting will be discussions surrounding the agenda items, minuting the discussion can be summed up in a line or two- the importance is on what the results were of the discussions such as decisions being made and further actions given to specific people.
If it is unclear to the minute taker what the final outcome of a discussion is, the minute taker is responsible for asking the group for a clarity.

Hi folks,

In an effort to create better Organizational Memory there is clearly a desire to improve the minutes we take.

I have taken more minutes than I care to remember in my time, and was the secretary/minute-taker for the last board I was on, so I wanted to offer some resources.

Here’s some info on minutes, including an abbreviated copy (see attached) of some minutes from my last board (which also used consensus and not Robert’s Rules).

========

Before minuting any topics, I always start with the following cover page information (see minutes below for example):
1.Organization’s name and name of meeting
2.Date and start time
3.Who’s present, absent, came late, and left early (including times)
4.Agenda Outline

Then, for each topic, I try to accomplish the following (not often do I manage to capture all this unless I actually record the meeting, but at least I know my ideal goal):

1.Title of Issue (including start time)
2.Description of Issue
3.Expansion of Issue… concerns, discussion, arguments, etc.  I only include “who said what” if putting a name to a comment seems necessary, otherwise most of it is without names.
4.Suggestions for solutions (motions)
5.Decisions/Action Items: what, by whom and when (highlighted) (bold, red, etc)
6.Rationale for that Action (so that people who weren’t there can understand why we chose what we chose)

Minute taker should remember the value of checking in regarding wording of important pieces on info like actions and guiding statements and consensus questions.

Finally I end with:

1.Time the meeting adjorned
2.Date and time of next meeting

Hope that helps and thanks for everybody’s hard work.

Alon

In response to the question: what is the mission statement of Kootenay Cooperative Radio - that we have heard a few times on the forum and in the station -
and that this thread is a place to post documents for station memory - the following is the official mission statement requested.

Mission Statement
Kootenay Co-op Radio

Kootenay Cooperative Radio uses its facilities and the initiative and skills of its membership to create a medium for the balanced expression of the varied perspectives of our community. Kootenay Cooperative Radio aims to entertain and inform listeners through its commitment to innovative broadcast journalism and high quality programming.

Could you please provide some example of minutes, by posting the minutes from the past year from the Community Connections Committee?
John Humphrey

Alon Gelcer - 06 January 2009 03:41 PM

Hi folks,

In an effort to create better Organizational Memory there is clearly a desire to improve the minutes we take.

I have taken more minutes than I care to remember in my time, and was the secretary/minute-taker for the last board I was on, so I wanted to offer some resources.

Here’s some info on minutes, including an abbreviated copy (see attached) of some minutes from my last board (which also used consensus and not Robert’s Rules).

========

Before minuting any topics, I always start with the following cover page information (see minutes below for example):
1.Organization’s name and name of meeting
2.Date and start time
3.Who’s present, absent, came late, and left early (including times)
4.Agenda Outline

Then, for each topic, I try to accomplish the following (not often do I manage to capture all this unless I actually record the meeting, but at least I know my ideal goal):

1.Title of Issue (including start time)
2.Description of Issue
3.Expansion of Issue… concerns, discussion, arguments, etc.  I only include “who said what” if putting a name to a comment seems necessary, otherwise most of it is without names.
4.Suggestions for solutions (motions)
5.Decisions/Action Items: what, by whom and when (highlighted) (bold, red, etc)
6.Rationale for that Action (so that people who weren’t there can understand why we chose what we chose)


Minute taker should remember the value of checking in regarding wording of important pieces on info like actions and guiding statements and consensus questions.


Finally I end with:

1.Time the meeting adjorned
2.Date and time of next meeting


Hope that helps and thanks for everybody’s hard work.

Alon

Hi John,

Sorry somehow I didn’t see your request until now.

Just to clarify your request - are you wanting examples of minutes in general or actually particularly wanting the minutes of CCC.  If it is the CCC minutes, as I mentioned in another post, CCC uses a table form of minute taking that Terry tells me is not able to be uploaded to the forum at this time.  I tried a few weeks ago to post ccc minutes and it didn’t work.  I’m looking for another solution that does not require a lot of extra work hours to achieve.

Thanks,
Alon

Alon Gelcer - 22 March 2009 11:00 PM

Hi John,

Sorry somehow I didn’t see your request until now.

Just to clarify your request - are you wanting examples of minutes in general or actually particularly wanting the minutes of CCC.  If it is the CCC minutes, as I mentioned in another post, CCC uses a table form of minute taking that Terry tells me is not able to be uploaded to the forum at this time.  I tried a few weeks ago to post ccc minutes and it didn’t work.  I’m looking for another solution that does not require a lot of extra work hours to achieve.

Thanks,
Alon

I am requesting the CCC minutes. I am unconcerned what format you selected to do them in except that it seems you selected one which effectively means you don’t post minutes.  The effect, intentional or not, is to make this committee “in-camera” for all intents. How you post your minutes is unimportant, That you post them is. Would this sort of thing be acceptable for the Board minutes? I think not.

John Humphrey.

Hi John,

Thanks for clarifying.  I understand completely.  You are absolutely right that even though this has been an unintentional glitch, it is still a glitch and we are working on fixing it.  I aslo agree with you that the bottom line is that the goal is to get all minutes out for transparency—and that is what we’re working on as fast as our volunteer abilities allow.

Alon

Isilla… I’m confused… can you clarify the system you’re recommending?  and is it a recommendation for all minutes? 
Thanks
Alon

I am very pleased to see that the Board is supporting the posting of draft minutes soon after meetings.

Alon.....I am happy to see CCC minutes posted........but I must have a browser conflict or something, as when I click “download”, I get nothing. Not even a file I can’t open. What do I need to do? THX

Hey John,

Thanks for the acknowledgment.  It’s also nice to see someone notice the changes and reads the minutes.

Indeed the board recognized that minutes could only be posted after being approved, and that we currently only approve the minutes at the next meeting, so there is quite a delay.  So… we are trying a new format of approving board minutes via email, all in an effort to get the minutes out sooner to the membership.  (note: it is still in trial stage and we are having some challenges - eg it took 2 weeks to get the minutes printed and then another week for approval which is only one week less than usual, so we need to cut times down further)

With regard to ccc minutes… good catch.  I just tried it myself and it’s not working for me either.  Not with CCC minutes or with others.  Deb thinks the links may be broken.  This is something I’ll have to ask Terry to fix.  Thanks for bringing that problem to my attention.

Alon