Category: General

The Future of Board Meetings

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 Meeting Options

 

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:

 

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.

If You’re on Time, You’re Already Late

Ever rushed into a meeting in the nick of time and pretended to have your bearings, even though your mind was racing to catch up? The meeting starts, but wait, you haven’t opened your template or pulled up your agenda! Your laptop isn’t plugged in and you didn’t have a moment to learn everyone’s names. You manage to focus after about 10 minutes, but by then you’ve likely missed a piece or two of critical information. Later, when you’re editing, you’re spending twice the time you normally would combing through the recording (if you had time to set up your recording device at all!)

Who hasn’t had a boss turn the phrase, “If you’re on time you’re already late”? In the world of minute taking, where motions can signify the movement of massive dollar amounts, this certainly holds true. Being late affects you in several ways:

You look unprofessional

Being on time “gives others insight into how you view them and yourself.” — cydcor.com

In the professional world, meetings begin at the proposed start time. Period. When building a professional relationship, employers may not want to work with you again if they think there is even a possibility you will be consistently late. Tardiness can make it seem like you don’t take yourself, or your profession, seriously.

There is no excuse

In the modern world, there are many technologies that help us to be on time. Between transit tracking apps and maps, we have several different ways to move through the city. If there is a personal or family emergency, be honest and communicative. Everyone knows you’ve got a cellphone, so use it.

Lateness causes stress

Being late does not just stress out your employer, who is counting on you to deliver a professional document that begins with the start of the meeting, the call to order. A survey of 2,000 adults by natural health company A.Vogel found that 81% said “being late is the No. 1 cause of [my] stress.” We don’t like to be late, so why do we do it? It just might be that those habits seem impossible to break.

How to Break the Tardiness Cycle

Being late will continue to affect your job performance until you take steps to improve your habits. Here are some simple adjustments to get yourself on track:

  • Plan for trouble: Always add 25% to your estimated travel time.
  • Pack your bag well before you have to leave: God forbid you end up without the materials or technology you need when important information is at stake.
  • Use tech: There are several time-tracking apps you can download on your phone to log your actions and learn how long typical tasks take to complete.
  • Trick your calendar: Schedule events in your calendar for 10 minutes earlier than they actually take place so your reminder comes a little early.

 

It may feel hard to change when you’re used to relying on the fastest travel times or trying to squeeze in one more email before you head to work, but with persistence, your efforts will be noticed and appreciated by employers and colleagues alike.

 

The Importance of a Good Agenda

Ever been in a meeting that was called about a certain topic, only to find that some completely irrelevant tangent ends up dominating the discussion?

A critical tool for keeping a meeting productive and on track is the often-underestimated agenda. Preparation is key to crafting a clear, defined road map that sets the framework for an efficient and functional meeting, even if the dynamic isn’t particularly harmonious.

If a board doesn’t use an agenda for its meeting, or relies on one that isn’t well thought out, it can end up having a wide-ranging, aimless discussion that achieves nothing.

The following steps show how to craft a good agenda that will mitigate redundant conversations and poor time management in meetings and ensure the group gets to the point quickly and stays focused.

1. Define the goal

Before putting down the first agenda item, answer this question: “What do we want to accomplish at this meeting?”

The person drafting the agenda should understand the priority of each topic to be discussed and develop a hierarchy of points that need to be covered to build a strong skeleton for the meeting. Reviewing the previous minutes in advance is a good practice as there may be subjects that are carried over from one meeting to the next. This gives the agenda a clear direction.

2. Everything has its time

In an ideal world, every topic can be discussed effectively during a meeting. The reality is: the longer the meeting, the greater the chance of attendees losing focus. Pick subjects for the agenda that require planning or action soon, not far down the road. For example, a discussion about snow removal next winter might not get on the agenda for a May meeting, whereas cleaning a parking garage or outdoor pool maintenance should make it on if decisions are required more imminently.

Suggesting a time limit beside each topic reminds participants they must keep their comments concise and relevant in order for the meeting to adjourn on time.

3. Drafting the agenda

When actually writing the agenda, topics should be outlined clearly and succinctly and can be listed in order of priority. Much like a concise resume, an agenda should be no more than one page. This sets the tone for the meeting — too many topics from the get-go can seem overwhelming.

Of course, there are standard items that should be on every agenda, such as:

  • Who the meeting is for (organization name)
  • Date/time/location
  • Call to order
  • Approval of agenda
  • Date/time of next meeting
  • Termination

The content between these headings is what is most important in creating an agenda that will deliver the desired outcome of a board meeting. For example, if one objective is to review the manager’s report, then “Management Report Review” should be one of the headings, with subtopics below. Subtopics act as an agenda within an agenda and add clarity and direction.

A good agenda is futile if nobody enforces it. The meeting chair should use the agenda as a roadmap and, if conversations stray off-topic, it is the chair’s duty to get everyone back on track. Long meetings can be costly and ineffective, and an agenda can act as the first checkpoint to ensure meetings stay on course.

The goal of a meeting is to reach outcomes and decide tasks or next steps. With a good agenda and someone to enforce it, the meeting has a much better chance of being efficient and successful.

 

Why Minutes Matter

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.

Minute Taking – What Are The Options?

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.

Choosing a Minute Taker

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.

Trouble with Board Meetings?

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]

Documenting a Legacy

Alyssa Eade is a client of Minutes Solutions. About a year ago she sat down with her grandmother and conducted an interview about her life story. She had the interview saved on an audio file for over a year. Just recently, Alyssa’s grandmother unfortunately passed away. She knew that she had to get the audio file of her interview transcribed before the funeral so she could share stories with family and friends. She reached out to Minutes Solutions to help her transcribe the audio file in a relatively urgent time frame. We decided to sit down with Alyssa and ask her a few questions about why she thought it was a good idea to have the interview transcribed. In our opinion, what she did was amazing, as we believe the ability to share stories with future generations about family history, lineage, and perseverance is something that many take for granted, until it may be too late.

Why did you decide to interview your grandmother?

Last year, when my husbands’ grandfather passed away, I read a copy of his memoir. He had written his story about a decade ago, with beautiful penmanship. My mother-in-law later transcribed it and had copies available at his Shiva [a Jewish ritual for mourning the loss of a person]. As soon as I picked it up, I was hooked. It was so interesting to learn about a man I only met in his 90’s and to read his perspective on his childhood, life milestones and memories.

After reading this, I knew I needed to take the time to interview my grandmother so that she, too, could have a memoir. My grandmother, who lived to be almost 92 years old, was the “sharpest tool in the shed”, even up until her last day. I knew that it would be very difficult for her to physically write out her story, but, if I interviewed her using an audio recording device, she would have plenty to say.

And that she did! Last July, my cousin and I spent the afternoon with my grandmother first by having lunch and then asking her questions about her life story. This was an experience I will always cherish.

Why is this important?

To understand a person, it’s important to understand where they came from. Even though I was very close with my grandmother and felt I knew her well, I knew there was a lot about her past that, as a grandchild, I had never asked about. I knew that if I took the time to interview my grandmother, not only would she love to share her story but, more importantly, it would be a valuable keepsake for all of her loved ones in the future.

Did you learn things you otherwise did not know about her and your family? If yes, what did you learn?

Definitely. What I found most fascinating were the experiences she shared about getting married and becoming a mother – because these are the life stages that I am currently facing (being newly married and thinking about starting a family). Shortly after my grandmother got engaged to my grandfather, he took off to Germany to serve in the army for two years. To think that they could only communicate by snail mail for two years would be unimaginable today. She also shared that prior to giving birth to my Dad, she had a baby that lived for only 10 days followed by a miscarriage.

Beyond these adversities, I found it fascinating to learn about her education, her views on gender roles and her religious identity, what she did for fun and about her relationship with her parents and grandparents.

Why did you decide to have the audio transcribed?

After my grandmother passed away, I realized I had the audio recording of the interview with my grandmother, but had not shared it with anyone.

I decided to have the audio recording transcribed because I thought it would be easier for people to skim parts of the interview and also to have it as a documented piece of family history.

What benefits did you find from having the audio transcribed?

The transcribed interview allowed more people to learn about my grandmother in a digestible format. The audio recording is almost two hours in length, while reading through the interview takes about 15 minutes.

When our rabbi was preparing the eulogy about my grandmother, I was amazed that I had the answers for so many of the questions he asked about – some that no one else knew or remembered the answers to.

I was able to share the transcribed interview with friends and relatives – and many of them have told me how much they enjoyed reading it and learning about my grandmother.

Would you recommend other people to do what you did? Why?

Without a doubt. This interview with my grandmother is a cherished gift that I feel so fortunate I took the opportunity to do. I consider this to be the greatest keepsake I am left with from my grandmother. I know that I will read and listen to this interview at different stages of my life when I want to remember her. I hope to one day share my grandmother’s story with children of my own so that they can understand and appreciate their roots. I know I do.

Know Your Minute Taker

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 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 taking my meeting minutes 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.