Author: Bruce Stemmet

Organization: The Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE)

Industry: Professional Associations / Non-Profit

Challenges

• Taking minutes prevented staff and leadership from focusing on core tasks and projects.
• Reliance on staff to attend each meeting while performing multiple duties simultaneously, including taking minutes, managing the technical aspects of virtual meetings, and actively participating in discussions.
• Ensuring accuracy and prompt completion of the meeting minutes.
• An inefficient and time-consuming minutes approval process caused by unclear and incomplete information.

Results

• Overall meeting documentation and adherence to best practices improved significantly, allowing CSAE to present a model of good governance practices to its members.
• Much greater meeting efficiency, both in the minute-taking process and in allowing the executive team to fully engage in the meeting proceedings.
• With an improved workflow, the time saved on the minute taking, editing, and approval process was used by the finance team to complete the annual audit, as well as month-end and year-end tasks.
• The administrative team was able to focus on providing in-meeting tech support and spend more time assisting members outside of meetings.

Enhancing Association Excellence

The Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) is a not-for-profit professional membership organization that serves association professionals and suppliers in Canada. CSAE offers robust networking and learning opportunities, both online and in person, including an educational program leading to the Certified Association Executive (CAE®) designation.

“We also produce publications, conduct research, and pursue other knowledge transfer opportunities to keep members informed about the latest trends, innovations, and best practices in the sector and beyond,” says Melissa McGuckin. Melissa is an Executive Assistant at CSAE, and she leads executive support for the President & CEO, Board of Directors, and Board Governance Committees.

Recognizing the significant amount of time involved in taking minutes and the need to improve the quality of their meeting minutes, CSAE turned to Minutes Solutions. CSAE’s primary objectives were to streamline the minute-taking process for their board meetings and annual general meetings (AGMs), as well as to ensure important action items were properly documented. “The administrative or executive assistant would record the meeting minutes,” Melissa says. “At times, the administrative/executive assistant would also be responsible for simultaneously facilitating other aspects of the meeting such as screen-sharing, coordinating logistics for virtual and in-person meeting access, etc.” CSAE aimed to not only improve their own minute-taking process but to also provide a valuable resource for members looking for a better way of producing high-quality meeting minutes.

Navigating Remote Realities

The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations worldwide to transform their work environments, and the CSAE was no exception. With the shift to remote work and virtual/hybrid board meetings, CSAE realized the need for a reliable minute-taking service.

Casey Pope, who manages the awards and recognition program and end-to-end volunteer experience, says, “CSAE is always considering opportunities to improve efficiency and leverage resources to adopt and promote to our members to advance association excellence.”

Since entrusting Minutes Solutions to minute all their meetings, CSAE has seen significant improvements in “meeting efficiency, accurate documentation of motions, clear action items, and follow-up information.” As one step in their preparation, Minutes Solutions requires a meeting package to be provided to the minute taker before the meeting so “we did not have any reservations regarding knowledge about the organization or meeting discussions,” Casey says.

“When we first started working with Minutes Solutions, we were only comparing it to the current practice of taking minutes and saw the partnership as a great opportunity to improve our best practices and to be a model for continuous improvement to our members.”

Seamless Integration

Replacing a process that has existed in an organization for a long time can be daunting, but CSAE’s experience was anything but. The Minutes Solutions team worked collaboratively with CSAE, creating an experience that was “efficient and provided an easy transition from the old way to the new,” says Melissa.

The initial onboarding process involved CSAE’s President & CEO, the partnerships team, and an administrative assistant. Before implementation, “the Board was also informed of the changes to the minute-taking practices,” Casey says – and they were quick to adopt the new process.

“CSAE has worked collaboratively with Minutes Solutions since 2020. Over the years, we have continued to successfully work with Minutes Solutions for our Board meetings, Board governance meetings, and AGMs.”

Before choosing Minutes Solutions to meet their minute-taking needs, CSAE did not have experience using an external service or tool, but both the CSAE team and Board were quick to get on board with the new practice. Casey says there has been positive feedback from the Board on the experience, and they immediately saw an improvement in the minutes.

Unlocking Operational Efficiency

Delegating minute-taking to Minutes Solutions has proven invaluable for CSAE, allowing teams to focus on core responsibilities. Casey explains that the finance team can dedicate more time to critical tasks, such as audits, while administrative staff can provide enhanced member support and technical assistance during meetings. “This has been especially beneficial for our AGM and meetings that occur post-AGM where recording is crucial.”

“The team from Minutes Solutions is always wonderful to work with. Whether it’s organizing a meeting or interacting with the minute-takers themselves, we know that we’ll always receive accurately recorded minutes as well as courteous and kind service.”

According to Melissa, using Minutes Solutions has been a time saver, allowing the staff and leadership team to participate fully in meetings and accomplish more as a whole. “Each year, CSAE provides the minutes from the previous year’s AGM to our membership. Having the ability to trust the accuracy and efficiency with which Minutes Solutions produces our minutes has allowed us to quickly provide information to the membership regarding decisions that were made and decreased the amount of time our administrative team needs to edit, update, and get information out, both internally and externally.”

Casey mentioned that CSAE continually receives positive feedback from the board members, volunteers, and members. “Our board members are happy and enjoy having Minutes Solutions as a partner. They understand how important it is to have accurate minutes as Executive Directors and CEOs in their own associations. I find it easy to schedule Minutes Solutions, as have others on the team who have gone through the process. We find it to be a quick, easy, painless solution that makes minute-taking an easy task.”

Amplifying Organizational Productivity

With Minutes Solutions, CSAE has transcended previous challenges of time-consuming minute-taking and editing, allowing them to achieve greater operational efficiency. Melissa underscores the peace of mind derived from relying on a trusted source for accurate and timely minutes, ultimately increasing productivity and reducing internal stress.

“I would say if you’re an organization that requires minute-taking, have a small staff, would like speed, ease, clarity, and increased peace of mind, or work on tight deadlines, then Minutes Solutions is a fabulous option. It’s something that our organization has found beneficial to increasing productivity while decreasing internal workload and stress.”

In the world of board meetings, proper documentation is crucial for good governance, accountability, decision-making, and legal compliance. Two common methods for documenting a board meeting are verbatim transcription and transcribing minutes. Transcription means converting spoken language or audio recordings into written text. Each approach serves a unique purpose, offering distinct advantages and disadvantages. Let us discuss the two options.

Board Meeting Transcription: The Verbatim Record

When precision matters

What is Board Meeting Transcription?

Board meeting transcription involves the meticulous process of converting spoken words from a board meeting into a written, word-for-word transcript. This approach aims to capture every spoken word, ensuring a comprehensive record of everything discussed in the meeting. It cannot be partial, opinionated, or subjective, making it an indispensable tool in situations or industries where omitting certain conversations is not an option.

Why Transcribe a Board Meeting Verbatim?

1. Precision and Accuracy: One of the primary reasons organizations opt for board meeting transcription is the need for precision and accuracy. In fields where details matter greatly, having a verbatim record of discussions, decisions, and statements is invaluable, as it leaves no room for misinterpretation.

2. Legal and Compliance Requirements: Many industries operate under strict legal and regulatory frameworks. Transcribing board meetings can help organizations meet compliance requirements and provide a clear record of exactly what was said in case of disputes or audits.

3. In-depth Analysis: Researchers and analysts often rely on verbatim transcripts for in-depth analysis, as it allows them to delve into the nuances of conversations, study language patterns, and identify underlying themes.

The Cons of Board Meeting Transcription

1. Time-Consuming: Transcribing every word is very time-consuming, especially for lengthy meetings.

2. Costly: High-precision transcription requires skilled professionals and can come at a significant cost, especially compared to transcribing minutes.

3. Liability: Verbatim transcription is not typically recommended for board meetings, as this can open the board to liability in several ways, including:
   • Inadvertently disclosing confidential information, such as trade secrets, confidential business strategies, or private information about individuals.
   • Exposing the board to legal risks, especially if statements imply negligence, discrimination, or other lawful content.
   • Inaccurate transcription may lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations of what was discussed.

4. Verbose: Verbatim transcripts often contain filler words and repetitions, which can reduce conciseness, clarity, and readability. Furthermore, they may not accurately capture the meaning the speaker intended to convey.

At Minutes Solutions, we offer “intelligent verbatim” transcription which preserves the speaker’s sentence structure, phrasing, point of view, and message but cleans up the presentation, corrects grammatical errors and misspoken words, and eliminates repetition and filler words such as “ah”, “um”, “you know”, and “like”.

Transcribing Minutes

When clarity and efficiency are key

What Are Meeting Minutes?

Meeting minutes, also known as minutes of meetings or simply minutes, offer a summarized account of key points, discussions, decisions, and action items from a meeting. Unlike verbatim transcription, minutes aim to provide a concise yet informative record, ensuring that both attendees and non-attendees can stay informed. They provide valuable context for meeting proceedings, explain the reasoning behind decisions, and serve as a convenient reference for those unable to participate in the meeting. Minutes play a crucial role in an organization’s strategic development, helping them chart their course and track their progress. They prove useful for corporations, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, school boards, and any organization looking to document a board meeting effectively.

Why Meeting Minutes?

1. Clarity and Efficiency: Transcribing minutes of meetings is a time-efficient way to capture the most salient points of a discussion. It distills lengthy conversations into easily digestible information, making it suitable for most meetings.

2. Action-oriented: Minutes often include action items, responsibilities, and deadlines. This actionable content makes it easier for participants to follow up on decisions made during the board meeting.

3. Accessibility: Meeting minutes are user-friendly and readily accessible to a wide audience. Done well, they do not require specialized training for comprehension, making them valuable for sharing across different departments and teams, without the need to sift through extensive pages of information.

4. Compliance: Proper board meeting minutes help organizations meet governance, compliance, and regulatory requirements by documenting all the necessary components of the meeting in the correct manner.

5. Protection: A good minute-taker knows what to include and, equally important, what not to include in board meeting minutes, protecting the organization from the potential pitfalls of including every spoken word.

The Cons of Transcribing Minutes

1. Less detail: The minutes will not capture every word spoken, which could be a disadvantage in certain contexts.

2. Risk of bias: The minute taker’s interpretation may introduce bias or omit critical information when a meeting is documented in a summarized form. This concern can be addressed through the use of a professional third-party minute-taker.

3. Less appropriate for highly technical discussions: In technical fields, verbatim transcripts, or at least certain sections captured word-for-word, might be necessary for precision.

Considering Digital vs. Human Transcription

When transcribing board meetings, organizations often weigh the options of digital (automated) and human transcription. Here’s why people consider both and why human transcription remains the cornerstone for accuracy and reliability:

Digital Transcription

Also, automated transcription services are typically more budget-friendly, making them an attractive choice for organizations with budget constraints. However, AI-generated transcripts often contain many errors, which can put an organization at risk of incorrectly conveying decisions, action items, discussions, and other crucial aspects of board meetings. This can also lead to a lengthy review process, negating the savings in time and money that digital transcription was intended to provide. Despite advancements in AI, automation cannot fully replace personnel trained in verbatim transcription, and certainly cannot replicate the work of a professional minute-taker.

Digital transcription utilizes technology, notably artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning algorithms, and speech recognition tools, to automatically convert audio and video recordings into text, eliminating the need for manual transcription. It offers swift transcription of board meeting minutes, which is essential when dealing with substantial volumes of audio or video content under tight deadlines.

Human Transcription:

Human transcription involves an individual converting spoken language into written text. It requires meticulous listening to audio or video recordings to transcribe the spoken words, capturing both content and context. Human transcribers can understand accents and industry-specific words, and provide additional services, such as formatting, editing, and accurate time stamping, to enhance the minutes’ usability and readability. Moreover, manual transcription services prioritize data security, often backed by non-disclosure agreements and ISO standards, ensuring utmost confidentiality for sensitive meeting content.

In board meeting scenarios, where precision and accuracy are paramount for legal compliance, decision-making, and historical reference, human transcription remains the gold standard. While automated transcription can be a valuable tool for rapid content processing, it often falls short in capturing the nuanced details and subtleties that can significantly influence the interpretation and utility of board meeting minutes.

Choosing the Right Method for Your Needs

Both word-for-word transcripts and meeting minutes have a place when it comes to how organizations keep accurate records of events and information. When deciding between board meeting transcription and transcribing minutes of meetings, consider your industry, the purpose of the documentation, and the level of detail required. Think about whether verbatim transcripts or meeting minutes will better serve your specific meeting participants and other stakeholders.

In some cases, a combination of both approaches may be appropriate, with verbatim transcription reserved for critical legal or technical contexts and minutes serving as a practical, everyday solution for most meetings. Understanding the pros and cons of each approach empowers you to make an informed decision that best serves your organization’s objectives.

How Minutes Solutions Can Help

Minutes Solutions is the global leader in professional minute-taking, offering expert minute-takers skilled in board meeting transcription and transcribing minutes from both live and recorded sessions. Our services are tailored to meet your organization’s unique needs, regardless of your industry. Our unwavering commitment to quality and precision guarantees impeccable records for your organization, whether you prefer intelligent verbatim transcripts or concise meeting minutes. Contact us today to discover how we can enhance your meeting documentation processes, providing you with the flexibility to choose the method that aligns perfectly with your organization’s objectives.