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Electronic means as a method to draft corporate minutes

  • 05 Jul 2011 11:50 AM
    Message # 644168
    Anonymous
    Do other members record meetings by electronic means as a method to draft corporate minutes for Board, Audit and Corporate Governance Committee meetings.  Naturally, the recorded transcript must be audited just as hand written notes and is governed by the same rules of good discretion in adherence with the standards of the individual corporation.

    The issue is that shorthand appears to be a dying art and we don’t have staff capable of taking shorthand. Thus, in the interests of accuracy, I am trying to convince Committee Chairs to permit this method of minute taking in the first instance. I have prepared a policy on confidentiality and destruction of the recording once the minutes have been approved. 

     What  are other members' thoughts are on this subject?
  • 05 Jul 2011 3:54 PM
    Reply # 644342 on 644168
    Anonymous

    I have served as corporate secretary for three different companies; at one, we recorded all of the proceedings.  It was not useful at all, because who wants the job of having to listen to the proceedings all over again?  I’ve found that I can usually take good enough notes to craft the minutes (I do not know shorthand, but I can type pretty quickly) and not once was I ever in a position where I wished I had recorded the proceedings.  In any event if you decide to do this, you definitely need to ensure that the recorded minutes are destroyed or there is little point in crafting a second set of written minutes.  

    Small Publicly Traded 

  • 05 Jul 2011 4:28 PM
    Reply # 644377 on 644168
    Anonymous
    As recording secretary to the Board, this is something I have requested time and again for various reasons, I’m sure you’re already aware of.  The Board Chair and Directors are quite emphatically against any recording device used in Board and/or committee meetings.  I would however be very interested in viewing your policy on the confidentiality and destruction of the recording.

    As a side note, I do not use short-hand but take notes on my laptop.


    Medium Crown Corporation
  • 06 Jul 2011 9:44 AM
    Reply # 646864 on 644168
    Anonymous

    I had been taking notes by hand (not shorthand) for our Board for a couple of years. A few months ago, I took advantage of the fact that the entire Board had been given I-pads to allow them portable, anytime access to our electronic board portal and I switched over to an I-pad as well (I have a small, wireless keyboard).  No one objected, nor had I expected them to object.

    My notes are very much what they would be if handwritten but they are now so much easier to turn into minutes.  I keep the notes and other drafts of the minutes until the final minutes have been approved.

    Given that for all intents and purposes there is no longer a distinction between paper and electronic records, the manner in which notes are recorded should not matter so long as proper record management practices are followed.

    Medium Size Public traded company

    Claudia Ferris

    Claudia.ferris@quadrafnx.com

  • 11 Jul 2011 9:36 AM
    Reply # 650543 on 644168
    Anonymous
    We do not record our Board meetings.  Minutes are a record of decisions and include sufficient summary of discussions to demonstrate due diligence in consideration of the issues.  Even without shorthand skills, it should be possible to capture, either by hand or through keyboarding, the key points that were raised both in support of and in opposition to a particular recommendation without requiring the administrative and liability burden of sound recording of entire meetings.

    Small Not for profit

    Melinda Moore
    Manager, Regional and Board Affairs
    Ontario Hospital Association
    mmoore@oha.com
     

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