Talk:Scribe

Thoughts on a more formal set of standards for meeting minutes:

What are the elements of a meeting?

• Reports
• Commitments
• General Discussion
• Discussion of Proposals
• Announcements
• Evaluation

Reports

Minutes should include:

• That the report was made
• Who made the report
• If it's only a verbal report, a brief summary
• If it's a written report, a link to the report, or in the case of a very short report, the text of the report.

If the report generates a discussion, follow the guidelines for discussion (below).

Commitments

Minutes should include:

• A succinct description of the commitment
• Who committed to doing it
• If progress has been made but the commitment has not been finished, treat the progress report as a verbal report (above).
• If the commitment has been completed, note that it has been completed. (This might also include a progress report.)

General Discussion

Minutes should include:

• That the discussion happened
• A brief description of the topic (not the actual content of the discussion)
• Any wording intended to go into a formal proposal
• Any wording intended to go into a draft of a proposal
• Any concern raised

Proposal wording and concern wording should generally be read back to the meeting for approval.

Minutes should NOT include:

• General descriptions of the discussion points. These can be phrased as proposals, proposal drafts, or concerns.

Discussion of Proposals

See general discussion, above. All that goes here as well. Though there will likely be no "draft of a proposal".

• Final status of proposal (approved, sent to committee, postponed, etc.)

If a call for consensus is made and concerns are still remaining, then the concerns should be classified:

• Minor concern (simple change of wording is all that's required)
• Reservation (disagreement with part of the proposal, but general support for it)
• Stand Aside (disagreement with the whole proposal or a reservation that concerned party will allow to go forward)
• Block (a concern like a stand aside, but that is "based on a generally recognized principle, not personal preference, or it must be essential to the entire group's well-being")

The difference between a stand aside and a block is that the stand aside is an "agreement to disagree" that allows the proposal to go forward, and a block does not allow further progress at this meeting. Also a block must be based on a valid concern. Thus the group needs to determine the validity of the concern. In the case of a block, the group (minus the concerned party) should reach consensus on the validity of the concern. If the concern is not valid, then it should be reported as a "stand aside".

Announcements

Minutes should include:

• Brief description of the announcement, time, place, etc.

Evaluation

Minutes should include:

• Succinct description of feedback that helps to improve meetings.

This can be positive feedback to the group or facilitator, etc. Or it can be constructive criticism. The scribe may want to read the wording back to the person giving the evaluation for accuracy.