That is dangerous for the confidentiality issue which you mention in your question. You also mention that he/she records on the phone. I am developing an online minute taking training program but that will not be ready for a few months. Modern minute takers would not dream of recording a meeting. If he/she says she cannot take the minutes without the recording, then you need to find another minute taker or send him/her to some training. I suggest you get the support of a couple of other board members as well. I have worked with many many organisations which do not allow meetings to be recorded.Īs chair, I suggest you have a coffee with the minute taker and explain that she must no longer record the meetings. As I have said, it creates the wrong “culture” for the meeting and there are no good arguments to record a meeting. In my view, it is not appropriate for the meeting to be recorded. I take the minutes directly onto a computer while the meeting is running and on average have the complete minutes emailed to everyone within 5 minutes of the meeting closing – my record is 90 seconds.
#Voice recording note taking software professional#
For instance, I am company secretary for a professional association and I take the minutes. Minutes should be taken directly onto a laptop computer and be available literally within minutes of the meeting concluding. Minutes are what is decided and what is done, NOT what is said. There is a mindset for minute takers who record meetings and it is that they need to minute everything. I have no desire to denigrate your minute taker, but minute takers who record meetings tend to be “old school”. Finally, meetings which are recorded tend to be much more conflict ridden as people argue over what was said and call for the recording when none of that is really relevant – the decisions and action are relevant, not what people said. Thirdly, our research shows that a minute taker who records the meeting will on average spend three times as long getting the minutes done because they listen to the whole meeting the equivalent of 3 times and their accuracy tends not to be as good as minute takers who take the minutes “live”. Secondly, the minute take will tend to “rely” on the recording which is very very unwise. And so research shows, that in meetings that are recorded, the real decisions tend to be made outside the meeting – a very very common phenomenon. Firstly, people attending a meeting that is recorded will tend to say what they “ think they should say” and not what they really think. Our research shows that a meeting that is recorded has all downsides and no upsides. Recording a meeting is generally something you should avoid if at all possible. Minute takers who record meetings tend to think minutes need to record what is said – that is not what minutes are or should be. There is though, some legislation that actually dictates that minutes should be decisions and action and not discussion. One is appropriateness or propriety, the other is efficiency. I, as the Chair, don’t like this idea and feel that it might be in breach of confidentiality. Leanne from Australia has asked this question: Is it legal for a secretary to use a voice recorder (phone) to record a meeting instead of taking notes?