Cohousing-L Mailing List: Record keeping & minutes

[Lynn Nadeau / Maraiah (welcome]

On Sep 15, 2014, at 3:16 AM, cohousing-l-request [at] cohousing.org wrote:

> Unless you stringently restrict your minutes to decisions with only a 
> sentence or two explaining the decision, I also recommend a separate decision 
> log, each entry with a reference to the minutes, . 
> 
> My community likes to have both announcements and all comments and all 
> comments in the final evaluation recorded. The result is reams and reams of 
> digital records, many of which are unsearchable except as individual 
> documents. It's often nice to read as history but a holy mess when looking 
> for a specific decision. I'm hoping to get these on the website in Wordpress 
> so they can be tagged and searched but.... A huge task after 16 years. 14 
> living in and 2-3 of development.
> 
> Sharon

RoseWind Cohousing, Port Townsend WA
25 years in, during much of which I've been Secretary and de facto archivist, I 
offer the following suggestions for record keeping:

DATE everything, including the year.
STANDARDIZE title and format. Avoid titles like "Notes from Tuesday". Pick a 
format: RW minutes 2-14-14, or whatever. That way the list will sort into 
chronological order and all like items will stack in a computer folder. 

SUMMARIZE: I include lots of detail in my minutes, and that comes in handy 
sometimes later on. However, I start each set of minutes with a summary of 
decisions made. This helps in keeping a log of same, and allows readers who 
don't want to read the details to just skim or skip the rest. 
DECISIONS can also be written in a standardized format. I use
*Agreed:   

FILE: We have an online set of records, on Google Docs, accessible to anyone in 
the community. I also keep a hard copy of minutes, because I'm old and don't 
fully trust the Cloud. I also find it easier to flip through a notebook when 
I'm looking for something, or want to consult something during a committee 
meeting at the Common House. On the other hand, docs on a computer can be 
searched, which can be super useful.
Set up a filing system and keep it weeded out. Decide what files you might want 
to keep locked, or under someone's personal care -- only copies of important 
documents, blueprints, etc. 

DOCUMENT your systems. Write up job descriptions, committee mandates, and such, 
so it's not all in the brain of one person, who may not always be available. 
Think of who in your group is "the" person for some system, and get them to 
summarize what they'd want another to know, if someone else had to take it 
over. Consider having someone else start learning some of those systems, as a 
sort of apprenticeship, assistant role. 

I haven't had coffee yet this morning, and really need to get down to the 
garden work party, so I may have forgotten something, but others can add your 
tips!

Maraiah Lynn Nadeau