There is no doubt that the last few months of the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to the rise of virtual meetings. While it might seem like online meetings would make holding discussions or developing processes disjointed, there are several advantages of virtual meetings – especially when gathering in person is difficult or impossible.

Many condo boards have recognized the importance of meeting virtually to keep the board, owners, management, and service providers informed on next steps, decisions, and actions. Whichever platform your corporation has chosen to use, the following advantages of virtual meetings will help ensure progress when physical distancing is encouraged or required.

1. Virtual meetings accomplish the tasks and processes that wouldn’t otherwise be possible

As the phases of reopening are varied, the option of meeting in person might not be a possibility, or desire, for every board. For condominiums in particular, this raises concerns around the ability to not only hold board meetings but also other larger and equally important gatherings such as town hall meetings or annual general meetings (AGMs). Virtual platforms overcome the physical obstacles by allowing those meetings to take place anyway and for decision-making processes to move forward in an informed and timely fashion.

Without virtual meetings, board meetings and owners’ meetings might not be possible. This results in your board putting off decisions and actions that need to be addressed now. Therefore, one of the key benefits of virtual meetings is that they allow those next steps to take place and for tasks to be accomplished that could not otherwise be completed when in-person meetings are challenging or out of the question.

2. Virtual meetings are effective and efficient

Virtual meetings make the decision-making process more productive and efficient. Sometimes progress can only be achieved with regular verbal and visual check-ins and ongoing communication — a tangled e-mail thread amongst board members and management just won’t cut it. Virtual meetings keep things moving.

Especially when accompanied by an agenda, a virtual meeting tends to keep attendees focused. Although online attention spans can be shorter, this creates a sense of urgency to efficiently address the agenda. There is less table talk and more productive conversation and streamlined decision-making — boards can concentrate on action items and execute them effectively. Face-to-face online conversations between team members keep the flow of decisions and actions moving forward and keep organizations and boards up-to-date and on track.

3. Virtual meetings are cost-effective

In this time of financial difficulty, most corporations are seeking savings wherever possible. One of the most important benefits of virtual meetings is their ability to significantly lower overhead costs, including expenses related to travel, venue rental, and the refreshments typically provided at in-person meetings. Additionally, virtual meetings can lead to a reduction in meeting materials and office expenses. For instance, hard copies of documents, which are often printed for in-person gatherings, can be substituted with electronic copies presented virtually using screen-sharing features. This approach is not only cost-effective but also very environmentally friendly.

4. Virtual meetings are universally accessible

The accessibility of virtual meetings is second to none and ensures that all the people who need to attend can do so. All one needs is a device with an internet connection (e.g., smartphone, tablet, or computer) or an old-fashioned telephone.

Another of the many benefits of virtual meetings is that they open the opportunity for additional parties to easily attend. This could include other teams within your corporation, service providers, or your minute-taker, if you use an external vendor. The accessibility of virtual meetings is reason enough to take your discussions online to ensure that those who need to participate can and are comfortable doing so.

Conclusion: The organization that meets together stays together

The changes to the way meetings are being conducted right now don’t mean that your processes will be ineffective. Take your meetings online to keep your corporation on track and moving forward through good virtual communication to allow for streamlined discussions and decision-making. The cost-saving and accessibility benefits of virtual meetings facilitate these needs, and they are key elements in maintaining the viability of your team as you move through challenging times together.

There have been some recent decisions regarding the use of the term “in-camera”. Minutes Solutions has reviewed the decisions and discussed them in detail with our legal counsel. Here, we would like to clearly set out the main issues of each case and our stance going forward. The recent decisions are summarized below:

Decision 1: The main issue being the original request for minutes did not result in all of the minutes being provided. There was a lack of explanation as to why certain portions of the minutes were not provided, and why they were redacted. (Robinson v. Durham Condominium Corporation No. 139, 2021 ONCAT 81)[https://decisia.lexum.com/cao-oosc/decisions/en/item/512283/index.do?q=in-camera]

Decision 2: The main issue being the original request for minutes did not result in all the minutes being provided and an overall lack of good minute taking practices by the board. (Russell v. York Condominium Corporation No. 50, 2021 ONCAT 103)[https://decisia.lexum.com/cao-oosc/decisions/en/item/515574/index.do?q=in-camera]

Decision 3: The main issue being the original request for minutes did not result in any minutes being provided and a complete lack of response by the board. (Zamfir v. York Condominium Corporation No. 238, 2021 ONCAT 118)[https://decisia.lexum.com/cao-oosc/decisions/en/item/517702/index.do?q=in-camera]

The takeaway from all three cases is not only the importance of good minute taking and record keeping, but also the erroneous use of the term “in-camera”, which is not referenced in the legislation governing these decisions. Overall, it is critical to ensure that each request for records is in alignment with the requirements of the applicable legislation and regulations for your region.  As a result of these decisions, Minutes Solutions will no longer be utilizing the term “in-camera” and instead will use the term “restricted records” as we feel it is a more applicable term for our clients, no matter the region.

If there is a request to review records (from a person or entity that is allowed to see the records) the Board is responsible for providing the minutes and ensuring that there are no records omitted, either purposely or unintentionally. If there is a requirement for any redactions to those minutes, then the board must ensure that there is a reason supplied for each redaction.

Minutes Solutions is of the opinion that separating open minutes and restricted records has proven to be a benefit. Separate sets provide ease and efficiency for our clients, particularly in instances where redacting is required. Separate sets help the person redacting the minutes to identify which items are likely to contain portions that should be blacked out. Requesters have the right to review restricted records as long as the appropriate redactions have been made.

We are happy to continue providing minute taking services for restricted records for our clients and will continue to do so for all clients we currently provide this service for. If you no longer wish to receive a separate document with ‘restricted records’ please let us know and we will stop. Ultimately, we will continue to operate with the best interest of our clients at heart.

Virtual Minute Taking

Like lots of things lately, communication as we know it has changed and virtual meetings have gone from a begrudged necessity to the comfortable new norm across the corporate landscape. With lots of the commonly experienced technical difficulties ironed out over the last year, organizations are now finding that their processes can carry on as normal despite the limitations on gathering in-person. In fact, lots of businesses have found that many of their processes have actually improved due to the en-masse introduction of virtual and hybrid meetings.

This is because online technology has flexibility and staying power: the convenience of meeting virtually wherever participants are located physically will stick around post-pandemic and complement face-to-face gatherings even after restrictions are lifted.

And it won’t just be a choice between meeting in-person or virtually — the technology expands the meeting possibilities to include a hybrid option as well, allowing for a combination of both.

There are many benefits for going fully virtual with meetings or utilizing a hybrid approach, so let’s explore the differences between the two.

All Virtual

Firstly, an all virtual meeting means that every participant logs in to the meeting and attends remotely. They can do so from anywhere in the world and thanks to the pandemic, this has become commonplace across many industries and businesses.

The advantages of virtual meetings are many and as a result, they will likely dictate post-pandemic professional gatherings. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of going fully virtual.

More flexibility for scheduling. Before virtual meetings became commonplace, attendees often experienced scheduling difficulties — participants were expected to be on-site, for example, sometimes well outside regular office hours. Now it’s as simple as dialing in from home where you are able to simply log in after dinner, hold the meeting, and still have family time afterward.

And with participants dialing in from their homes or preferred work locations, it has never been easier to reschedule should a last-minute conflict arise for one of the key members. Availability in general has also increased, which has consequently facilitated further flexibility.

Always start on time. Eliminating the commute to a meeting also increases the chances of them starting on time. Traffic jams or half-eaten meals are no longer issues — you’re already at your workspace and you’re covered. (You may, however, want to keep your video off while you finish breakfast).

Increased efficiency. People love to chat when gathering face-to-face, which can slow the decision-making process and decrease efficiency during a meeting, especially for a larger conference. Virtual interaction has become so popular in the past year for both the personal and business realms that online work meetings now tend to cut right to the chase. This is down to the fact that if we’re going to spend extra time on a video chat, we likely want this time to be spent with loved ones.

Dial in from anywhere. Perhaps the most obvious of all of the advantages of going fully virtual for meetings is that attendees can take part from anywhere in the world. This makes accessibility incredibly simple and most online platforms even provide the option to dial in via telephone if you’ve really gone off the grid and are without Wi-Fi. This makes meeting attendance possible from anywhere with nothing more required than a phone line.

An influx of new knowledge. After nearly a year of restricted physical contact, even the most tech-reluctant now have some comfort level with engaging online, whether for work or personal socializing with family or friends. These technological skills now go beyond virtual meetings and add up to a better understanding of computers overall. This boost in general computer literacy will inevitably lead to increased productivity in the workplace whether you’re at home or in the office.

Share screens, save trees. An ecologically friendly approach to business is something that is growing in importance in the modern era. With screen-sharing becoming the new normal when discussing documents in online meetings, hard copies of reports and supplementary materials have become obsolete in favour of digital copies and counterparts. Paper waste is reduced when our minds are trained to accept these documents in their virtual form, which is fast becoming the norm in society.

Hybrid Meetings

Of course, there are still lots of scenarios in which face-to-face interaction is beneficial. Enter the hybrid meeting — a combination of virtual and in-person contact and a form of meeting that in turn, utilizes the benefits of both. But what does a hybrid approach to business communication look like and when should you use it?

Guests dial in. The organization’s key players are able to physically distance together in a large conference room while guests such as industry experts or those conducting virtual minute taking can dial in via teleconference. This helps to limit all in-person interaction to essential participants only which is often required, especially in recent months.

Site visits. Some projects require industry professionals, such as engineers or technicians, to investigate on-site issues, provide recommendations, and undertake critical work that is simply impossible to carry out virtually. When multiple eyes must be on a project, an in-person exploration by one individual with the remaining meeting participants attending by video chat can get the job done effectively.

AGMs. Some routine decisions to be made during an AGM are a no brainer for the virtual platform, while other more sensitive or important decisions such as the election of new board members for example, can benefit from a personal touch. This is where a hybrid AGM can make sense: features such as the approval of the previous AGM minutes and presentation of the president’s report can occur virtually, while voting and the question-and-answer portion can be held in-person. When the weather improves, hybrid meetings will be even more desirable. There will also be many opportunities for outdoor physical distancing for larger meetings or for items requiring in-person discussion or a vote.

One Last Key Ingredient

Even though comfort with online meetings has increased across the board, the proceedings always need at least one individual who knows the technology inside-out and can take the lead on logistics. Particularly for a major meeting such as an AGM, if your organization doesn’t have an in-house tech guru, consider using a professional virtual meeting platform whose services include providing an experienced and capable moderator.

A meeting plagued by tech issues can make your organization appear unprofessional and incompetent. Even worse, with an absence of dedicated software and an objective third party monitoring the proceedings, important decisions that require a vote could be misrepresented or mishandled, which could put your organization in legal jeopardy. Be sure to reserve your professional platform well ahead of time, though – it’s common for the schedules of virtual governance platforms to be filled months in advance.

The Future of Board Meetings – A Summary

To summarize, the future of board meetings is a virtual future, and one that embraces and works with the changes brought about due to the pandemic. The advantages of going at least somewhat virtual are hard to ignore and the simplicity of either a fully virtual or utilizing a hybrid approach means that it’s a bit of a no-brainer for most businesses.

With benefits to participants and businesses on a wider scale such as increased accessibility and flexibility, reduced environmental costs and travel costs, better engagement, and more, virtual and hybrid approaches look set to dominate the boardroom for years to come.

Get in Touch with Minutes Solutions

Minutes Solutions Inc. provides virtual minute taking and transcriptional services for organizations of all kinds. Our team are highly skilled and well-trained when it comes to virtual minute taking and we approach every task with high levels of accuracy and professionalism, working strictly to your requirements and timescales.

To find out more about our virtual minute taking or transcriptional services we provide, or to receive a free quote, please get in touch today. And to book a meeting or view your current meetings, visit our Client Portal.

Virtual technology has greatly increased the options for taking part in meetings. It’s hard to believe there was a time when we were relegated to only meeting in-person. The possibilities for meeting are now virtually endless — pun intended. Even before the new reality of COVID-19 and social distancing, many organizations had largely moved to virtual meetings to promote engagement, flexibility, traffic reduction, and time optimization, to name just a few advantages.

We have seen our clients migrate in this direction since now — and for the immediate future — virtual meetings are essentially the only option. At first the choices can be overwhelming, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the technology. We have outlined some of the most versatile virtual solutions that are available to everyone. Before using any of the options below, make sure you are doing your own research to learn about each platform and picking the one that works best for your organization.

Online Meeting

Real-time virtual meetings are an excellent alternative to in-person meetings and are easily facilitated through a wide variety of online software platforms. A good option for virtual board meetings is webinar software. This option also works well for AGMs and other owners’ meetings as this software typically has a chat window for viewers to pose questions in real time or to virtually “put up their hand”.

Good choices of conferencing/webinar software are:

• • Zoom Meetings
  • Google Meet
  • GoToWebinar
  • GetQuorum (Full “white glove” service for virtual AGMs)

Full-Service Solution

Minutes Solutions’s full-service virtual meeting option takes care of all the scheduling and hosting details for you. We organize the meeting with a virtual link and a dial-in number, invite your attendees, assign a minute taker, and then hand the meeting over to you.

Phone Call/Conference Call

One of our recording secretaries can call into a direct phone line, or a bridged conference line, in order to attend and create the minutes remotely.

Recorded Meetings

Most virtual solutions for hosting meetings have a “record” capability. If you record the meeting, we can convert the recording into a comprehensive set of minutes.

Equipment and Meeting Preparation

With the new normal we are all trying to navigate, meeting virtually is something that must play a major role. For a high-quality, virtual broadcast, you will need a laptop or smartphone with a strong Internet connection. And of course, structure and planning are just as imperative for successful virtual meetings as they are for in-person ones.

A question we often get is, “Does my company need to take official minutes?”

The short answer is “yes”.

Consider an energetic start-up we will call Company X, which recently contacted us with a predicament. Over the course of 36 months, Company X had been busy building value and turning the heads of some significant industry competitors. The atmosphere was nimble and frenzied. The board of directors and shareholders held countless meetings and growth was rapid.

Everything was moving in the right direction, and up stepped a potential buyer that, in practicing due diligence, requested Company X’s minutes. Regrettably, Company X couldn’t deliver.

Amidst all the booming business and chaos of running a start-up, nobody at the firm had considered the importance of taking (and keeping) proper minutes in a centralized, easy-to-access platform. The prospective investor was unwilling to commit millions of dollars to a corporation that did not have a proper maintenance record of its history. But after the fact, nothing could be done morally or ethically to satisfy the request.

So the deal fell through.

That’s a particularly painful way to learn that most for-profit and non-profit entities in Canada and the U.S. must maintain corporate records including official meeting minutes – they are often mandated by law. Legislation aside, meeting minutes can be used as a roadmap for an organization — what takes place in meetings often addresses what has happened in the past and determines the entity’s direction moving forward.

Over time, minutes serve as a history of an organization — sometimes the only unbiased, officially recorded one. Even through the turnover of staff or directors, documented meetings may be the sole objective reference of an entity’s development. As we all know, memory can not only be fickle, but biased as well. It is therefore critical that all corporations — be they for-profit or non-profit — know what kind of record-keeping is required under the legislation that governs their industry and that they formalize a method of taking minutes, either internally or via a professional third party.

Company X’s cautionary tale demonstrates that while minute taking may seem mundane, overlooking this crucial – and often mandatory — job can result in paying a high financial price.

For any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Minutes Solutions.

In a corporate world where minute taking and prudent record keeping are paramount, we often get the question: “What are my options?” There are several — but ignoring the notion altogether is not one of them.

As we’ve mentioned in previous articles, minutes serve as a “maintenance record” for your organization. Whether you belong to a non-profit, an association, a corporation or a condo community, the importance of minutes remains consistent. Not only do minutes serve as a record of what has been done and a map of the road ahead, they are also mandated by legislation. Not taking minutes can come with consequences.

Often the secretary of the board takes the minutes, but when that officer also needs to participate in the meeting, managing both tasks can be overwhelming and ineffective. This is where hiring a professional, third-party minute taker serves a very practical purpose.

Let’s look at the options.

In-person: Corporations seeking a third-party recording secretary can hire someone — whether an individual or from a company — to physically attend the meeting and objectively capture the salient points. An in-person minute taker has benefits: meeting participants observe that someone is encapsulating the discussion and questions can be asked. However, depending on the location, a trained, third-party minute taker may be difficult to find.

Dial-in: For clients in less densely populated areas, where professional minute takers may be scarce, dial-in can be a practical solution. A recording secretary who dials into the meeting virtually, from anywhere, gets around the logistics of needing to hire a qualified individual locally. Although some corporations find comfort in having the minute taker present — since body language and physical presence can lend nuance to discussions — this virtual solution is comprehensive. To have the minutes done properly, the clarity of the dial-in connection is imperative and scheduling in advance is still necessary since the minute taker must call in at the client’s appointed meeting time.

Recording: For corporations that hold either very frequent or impromptu meetings, the importance of having them transcribed remains the same. This is where having the minutes taken from a recording is the most sensible solution.

The chair announces at the start of the proceedings that the meeting is being audio recorded with the purpose of having it minuted. After the meeting, the recording can be sent via a variety of methods to a minute taker who turns it into a comprehensive set of minutes to submit to the client. As with the dial-in option, it is imperative that the recording is good quality and can be deciphered by a third party. If certain people or comments need to be identified, the speaker must state that. Holding a meeting in this manner may take some getting used to, but we find that after a short period of adjustment, clients appreciate the flexibility this option offers.

Strong fundamentals are key: Regardless of which method you employ, it’s wise to ask whoever you hire specific questions to ensure your preferences and needs are considered and everyone is on the same page. The minutes can only be as good as the group allows them to be: ensure the meeting has a strong agenda and that participants speak clearly, and acknowledge that an objective third party is distilling the conversation to provide you with a quality set of minutes.

Minute taking can be a daunting task but it needs to be done to keep proper records of a board’s decisions and to serve as a road map of past, present and future plans.

A board member or property manager is frequently tasked with taking the minutes, however, this can disrupt the flow of a meeting as it prevents the assigned minute taker from actively participating in the discussion. This can also cause the minutes to be subjective instead of objective and unbiased. It takes a specialized group of skills – and often proper training – to understand how to put together a clear, concise and objective set of minutes.

A lot of light has been shed on the importance of taking and keeping minutes recently. If a board lacks a designated, detached minute taker who isn’t required to actively participate in the meeting, a good solution is hiring a third-party minute-taking company. In that case, there are options.

Three good questions to ask the minute taking company you are vetting:

1.       Can you provide three recent referrals?

2.       How do I know the individual you are sending into my meeting is qualified?

3.       How quick is your turnaround time for a completed set of minutes?

For all your questions about minute taking and everything involved, contacting Minutes Solutions may be your first step to a stress-free solution.

Formal meetings often bring together a myriad of personalities and personal agendas. Most board members have probably attended meetings slated to last one hour and have watched, with a sinking feeling, the clock tick past the three- or four-hour mark, with no decision or identified next steps in sight.

In the condominium world, meetings take place several times a year — often monthly, but sometimes more frequently if there are contentious or pressing items that require a decision.  Every now and then, a meeting needs a lot of time to lay out the topics and discuss each one prudently, ensuring that everyone can share their piece and hopefully come to an agreement.

However, some lengthy meetings are strictly the result of poor organization or an inattentive or inexperienced chair. The stark fact is that long meetings can often be inefficient and costly due to meeting rooms that are booked by the hour or a third-party minute taker who is paid hourly. On top of that, there is the opportunity cost of participants’ time. Most condo board members are volunteers and often busy people: the longer the meeting, the less time they can allocate to other matters, whether personal or professional.

Time and again, condo meetings, if only organized and orchestrated correctly, can be effectively conducted to achieve everything that is outlined. The issue often comes down to the conduct of the board, sheer disorganization and the inability to narrow down the salient topics. This is where guidelines on facilitating organized meetings can help tremendously. Here are a few things to consider:

Send the Meeting Package in Advance: The meeting package should include all documents that are to be reviewed, discussed or approved at the meeting, including the agenda and/or management report, financial statements, previous minutes and quotes from potential vendors. A well-outlined agenda will go a long way to cutting down your meeting time as it should clearly set out what is to be discussed and allows board members to prepare for anticipated discussions in advance. Reviewing the complete package, including previous minutes, prior to the meeting will allow conversations to take a more regimented course. Topics of discussion and amendments may arise from previous minutes, however, reviewing items in advance allows them to be approved promptly and potential changes can be discussed quickly.

Pre-Meeting Communication: Email communication prior to meetings is a great tool to save time when the board gathers. Before meetings, boards should send via email a list of approvals that will be needed. If everyone agrees to the approvals in advance, they can be confirmed via resolution at the meeting and adopted into the minutes. This will significantly limit conversation about motions and topics on which most board members already agree. Reconfirming the meeting with members and guests 24 hours prior to start time will also help eliminate the potential for a meeting to not make quorum. It is not uncommon for a board member’s availability to change right before a meeting and they may overlook the need to notify the rest of the board. A good practice is for boards to schedule their meetings at the start of the year, for the following 12 months, as this helps to reduce scrambling and rescheduling.

A Defined Start and End Time: Everybody’s time is valuable. Although discussions may go longer than anticipated, this puts a conscious timeline on the meeting, encouraging participants to respect the clock. Announcing when there are 30 minutes left in the scheduled meeting time reminds participants a limited amount of time remains to complete any outstanding agenda items.

Appoint a Strong Chair: The chairperson is essentially the quarterback of a meeting and should possess the ability to mediate conflict and prevent dialogue from getting out of control and off course. A good chair will effectively manage the agenda, take control when necessary and steer the meeting back on course from potential tangents. Sometimes subsidiary topics that are brought up are relevant; however, as opposed to a free-for-all on these new topics, it is up to the chair to allocate time to discuss these additional items.  Anything newly posited should be put on the agenda of a subsequent meeting so that new topics can be addressed in an organized manner. A good chair will also repeat and summarize motions for clarification. After motions are passed, sometimes there is still discussion due to a lack of clarity; repeating these items will clear up confusion and assist the minute taker in recording the motions accurately.

Avoid Table Talk: It is human nature for people to socialize and talk about everyday topics such as the weather, family, sports, etc. However, to run an efficient meeting, these conversations should be saved for before or after the meeting.

A Compliant Board: Yes, opinions and ambitions often differ in a meeting — that is the beauty of a democracy. However, board members should respect the time and opinions of others and acknowledge the current tasks at hand.

Minutes and Action Items: A good set of minutes with clear action items will set you up for success at your next meeting. Clear action items will let people know what they are tasked with for the next meeting and will hold people accountable. If members forget what their tasks are for the next meeting, they can always consult the previous minutes to see what needs to be accomplished. Showing up to a meeting without having tasks completed, or even acknowledged, can cause the meeting to veer off course before it even begins.

If a board follows these steps, meetings will achieve a more professional discourse and debates can be controlled in a tactful and time-effective manner.

Minutes Solutions is a professional third-party minute taking company specializing in condo board meetings since 2008. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions: [email protected]