The importance of a written record of the Meetings cannot be overstated. The written record, sometimes called notes or minutes, can help settle disputes of memory or verify past Decisions. Accessible notes allow absent members to participate in ongoing work.
Useful items to include in the notes are:
- Date and Attendance
- Agenda
- Brief Notes (highlights, statistics...)
-Reports
-Discussion
- Verbatim Notes
-Proposals (with revisions)
-Decisions (with concerns listed)
-Announcements
- Next Meeting Time and Place
- Evaluation Comments
after each Decision is made, it is useful to have the Note-taker read the notes aloud to ensure accuracy. At the end of the meeting, it is also helpful to have the Note-taker present to the group a review of all decisions. In larger groups, it is often useful to have two Note-takers simultaneously, because everyone, no matter how skilled, hears information and expresses it differently. Note-takers are responsible for making sure the notes are recorded accurately, and are reproduced and distributed according to the desires of the group (e.g., mailed to everyone, handed out at the next Meeting, created and stored in Google Docs, filed, etc.)
Sources: On Conflict & Consensus
Contributors: Amy Rothstein, C.T. Butler
Recommended Books: On Conflict & Consensus
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