action minutes

Examples of action, summary, and detailed minutes in Robert’s Rules

By Ann Macfarlane / June 21, 2022 / Comments Off on Examples of action, summary, and detailed minutes in Robert’s Rules

Our faithful readers know that Jurassic Parliament advocates for action or summary minutes, not detailed minutes. This article, Meeting minutes record what is DONE, not what is SAID, explains our reasoning. We thought it might be helpful to provide a real-life example of each kind of minutes, so here they are. Robert’s Rules of Order…

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Meeting minutes record what is DONE, not what is SAID

By Ann Macfarlane / September 23, 2020 / Comments Off on Meeting minutes record what is DONE, not what is SAID

The biggest problem we encounter in meeting minutes is too much verbiage. Striving to do justice to their job, secretaries sometimes include the arguments that are made, what people say in response, and all the minutiae of discussion. There is a better way! According to Robert’s Rules of Order, minutes should record what is DONE,…

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Detailed minutes put your board at risk

By Ann Macfarlane / November 4, 2015 /
red warning sign

Do you include what directors say in the minutes of your nonprofit board meetings? Jurassic Parliament strongly recommends that you stop immediately. Detailed accounts of “who said what to whom” in your minutes are dangerous. In the worst case, they provide fodder for your opponents should your board ever be involved in a lawsuit.  In…

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