Minutes, also known as minutes of meeting (abbreviation MoM), protocols or, informally, notes, are the instant written record of a meeting or

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. They typically describe the events of the meeting and may include a list of attendees, a statement of the activities considered by the participants, and related responses or decisions for the activities.

Etymology

The name "minutes" possibly derives from the Latin phrase ''minuta scriptura'' (literally "small writing") meaning "rough notes".

Creation

Minutes may be created during the meeting by a typist or court reporter, who may use

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''st ...

notation and then prepare the minutes and issue them to the participants afterwards. Alternatively, the meeting can be audio recorded, video recorded, or a group's appointed or informally assigned

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

may take notes, with minutes prepared later. Many government agencies use minutes recording software to record and prepare all minutes in real-time.

Purpose

Minutes are the official written record of the meetings of an organization or group. They are not transcripts of those proceedings. Using ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR), the minutes should contain mainly a record of what was ''done'' at the meeting, not what was ''said'' by the members. The organization may have its own rules regarding the content of the minutes. For most organizations or groups, it is important for the minutes to be terse and only include a summary of the decisions. A

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report (transcript) is typically not useful. Unless the organization's rules require it, a summary of the discussions in a meeting is neither necessary nor appropriate. The minutes of certain groups, such as a

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

board of directors, must be kept on file and are important legal documents. Minutes from board meetings are kept separately from minutes of general membership meetings within the same organization. Also, minutes of

executive session An executive session is a term for any block within an otherwise open meeting (often of a board of directors or other deliberative assembly) in which minutes are taken separately or not at all, outsiders are not present, and the contents of the dis ...

s may be kept separately. Committees are not required to keep formal minutes although less formal notes may be taken. For committees, their formal records are the reports submitted to their parent body.

Format

The format of the minutes can vary depending on the standards established by an organization, although there are general guidelines.

Robert's Rules of Order ''Robert's Rules of Order'', often simply referred to as ''Robert's Rules'', is a manual of parliamentary procedure by U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert. "The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the work for whic ...

contains a sample set of minutes. Generally, minutes begin with the name of the body holding the meeting (e.g., a board) and may also include the place, date, list of people present, and the time that the chair called the meeting to order. Since the primary function of minutes is to record the decisions made, all official decisions must be included. If a formal

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is proposed and seconded, then (regardless whether it passes) this is recorded. The voting tally may also be included. The part of the minutes dealing with a routine motion might note merely that a particular motion was "moved by Ann and passed". It is not strictly necessary to include the name of the person who seconds a motion. Where a tally is included, it is sufficient to record the number of people voting for and against a motion, but requests by participants to note their votes by name may be allowed. If a decision is made by roll-call vote, then all of the individual votes are recorded by name. If it is made by

general consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...

without a formal vote, then this fact may be recorded. The minutes may end with a note of the time that the meeting was adjourned. Minutes are sometimes submitted by the person who is responsible for them (often the secretary) at a subsequent meeting for review. The traditional closing phrase is "Respectfully submitted" (although this is no longer common), followed by the officer's signature, his or her typed (or printed) name, and his or her title. Usually, one of the first items in an

order of business An agenda is a list of meeting activities in the order in which they are to be taken up, beginning with the call to order and ending with adjournment. It usually includes one or more specific items of business to be acted upon. It may, but is not r ...

or an

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for a meeting is the reading and approval of the minutes from the previous meeting. If the members of the group agree (usually by

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...

) that the written minutes reflect what happened at the previous meeting, then they are approved, and the fact of their approval is recorded in the minutes of the current meeting. If there are significant errors or omissions, then the minutes may be redrafted and submitted again at a later date. Minor changes may be made immediately using the normal

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...

procedures, and the amended minutes may be approved "as amended". It is normally appropriate to send a draft copy of the minutes to all the members in advance of the meeting so that the meeting is not delayed by a reading of the draft.

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