Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: meeting minutes

[Lynn Nadeau / Maraiah (welcome]

I've been the minute taker and archivist for much of our 25-year project, here 
at RoseWind Cohousing in Port Townsend WA. 

Taking minutes is a balance between keeping the flavor and reasoning of 
discussions, especially those leading to decisions, and providing a concise 
reference to the most important stuff. The short answer to the question posed 
is that I rarely keep the speaker's name attached to an idea: 
"A concern was raised as to whether our insurance company would allow X." 
Unless there is a specific reason to include identity: 
"Marge and Jerry are concerned that a shed in that area would shade their 
vegetable garden."
I also often include the names of those with a "soapbox" item, as these tend to 
be personal opinions, rants, raves, or raising a new issue with an invitation 
for interested parties to contact them. 

Two things I've found useful:
Near the top of each set of notes I include a Summary: Any decisions that were 
made get listed here (as well as in the body of the notes). This helps with the 
reference factor. 
I keep a copy of the raw notes I take at the meeting, copying and pasting into 
a working document that evolves into the official minutes. That way, if there 
arises a later question of interpretation, I can go back and see what the 
nearly-verbatim raw notes say. 

Maraiah Lynn Nadeau