Recording meetings (minute taking)

Most meetings boards and committees use minutes to record conversation, discussion and decisions. The Companies Act requires ‘minutes of all proceedings at meetings of directors to be recorded’ and retained for a minimum of 10 years. Once approved and signed, the minutes are evidence of the proceedings in the meeting.

The Chartered Governance Institute’s Minute Taking guidance, summarised below, is a helpful resource.

Effective minute taking

Good minute taking is an art. The task of writing up minutes, creating a concise, succinct, accurate account of key meeting outcomes can take as long, if not longer, as a meeting itself.

No one-size-fits-all approach can be adopted for minute taking. Context is always important and each chair and each board will have their own preference for minuting style. It is up to each individual organisation to decide how best its meetings should be recorded.

The purpose of minutes is to provide an accurate, impartial and balanced internal record of th