board-minutes

Board Minutes Skill

Produce formal board meeting minutes that are concise, defensible, and useful as the official record. The minutes should capture what the board considered, what was decided, what actions were assigned, and any formal resolutions — without turning the document into a transcript.

What This Skill Produces

• Formal board minutes ready for review by the chair, company secretary, or governance lead
• A clear record of attendees, apologies, quorum, conflicts of interest, agenda items, decisions, resolutions, and actions
• An action register with owners, due dates, and status
• Optional draft approval wording for the next board meeting

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not already provided:

• Organisation / company name and board or committee name
• Meeting date, time, location, and meeting type (regular / special / committee)
• Attendees, apologies, guests, and chair / secretary names
• Agenda or topic list
• Meeting notes, transcript, or bullet summary of the discussion
• Decisions made, formal resolutions passed, votes, abstentions, or objections
• Actions agreed — owner and due date for each, if known
• Any conflicts of interest, confidential items, or matters to redact from circulation

Minute-Taking Principles

• Record decisions, rationale, and actions — not a verbatim transcript.
• Use neutral, factual language. Avoid attributing opinions unless attribution is necessary for a conflict, dissent, or formal record.
• Separate discussion from decisions. A reader should be able to find what was approved and who must do what next.
• Preserve exact resolution wording when the source materials provide it; formal resolutions often need verbatim treatment.
• Keep legal precision without over-lawyering. If the notes mention regulated, legal, employment, or financial matters, flag that the draft should be reviewed by the appropriate governance or legal owner.
• Do not invent quorum, votes, attendees, or resolutions. Mark unknown items as [to confirm].

Process

1. Identify meeting metadata — organisation, board, date, location, chair, secretary, attendees, apologies, guests, and quorum status.
2. Group notes by agenda item — preserve the board's agenda order where possible.
3. Extract formal decisions — approvals, rejections, deferrals, delegated authority, and resolutions.
4. Extract action items — owner, due date, dependency, and follow-up forum.
5. Flag governance-sensitive items — conflicts of interest, dissent, recusal, privileged discussion, confidential information, and items requiring legal/secretarial review.
6. Draft minutes in official-record style — concise past tense, neutral tone, no transcript filler.
7. Add an action register and approval footer — make follow-up and next-meeting approval straightforward.

Output Format

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Minutes of the [Board / Committee] Meeting

Organisation: [Organisation name]

Meeting: [Board / Committee name]

Date and time: [Date, start–end time]

Location: [Location / video conference]

Chair: [Name]

Minute taker / secretary: [Name]

1. Attendance

Present: [Names and roles]

Apologies: [Names]

In attendance / guests: [Names, roles, agenda items attended for]

Quorum: [Confirmed / Not confirmed / To confirm]

2. Conflicts of Interest

[State whether any conflicts were declared. If a conflict was declared, record the person, agenda item, and whether they recused themselves. If unknown, write [to confirm].]

3. Approval of Previous Minutes

[Record whether previous minutes were approved, amended, or deferred. Include action follow-up if relevant.]

4. Agenda Items

Repeat this structure for each agenda item.

4.[N] [Agenda Item]

Paper / presenter: [Paper reference or presenter, if known]

Discussion summary:

[Concise factual summary of the material points considered by the board. Capture key risks, options, and rationale. Do not write a transcript.]

Decision / resolution:

• [Approved / Not approved / Deferred / Noted]
• Formal resolution wording, if applicable: "Resolved that [exact decision]."

Actions:

| Action | Owner | Due date | Notes |

|---|---|---|---|

| [Action] | [Owner] | [Date / TBC] | [Context] |

5. Any Other Business

[Items raised outside the agenda, with any decisions or actions. If none: "No further business was raised."]

6. Next Meeting

Date: [Date / TBC]

Location: [Location / TBC]

Key agenda items to carry forward: [List]

Action Register

| # | Action | Owner | Due date | Status |

|---|---|---|---|---|

| 1 | [Action] | [Owner] | [Date] | Open |

Approval

These minutes were approved by the board on [date] as an accurate record of the meeting held on [meeting date].

Chair: ______________________

Date: ______________________

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Governance Review Notes

• Items marked [to confirm]: [List]
• Potentially sensitive items for review: [Legal / financial / employment / confidentiality / conflict-of-interest items]
• Open drafting questions: [Anything the minute taker must verify before circulation]

Quality Checks

• [ ] The minutes are concise and not a transcript
• [ ] Every formal decision or resolution is clearly separated from discussion
• [ ] Every action has an owner and due date, or is marked [to confirm]
• [ ] Attendance, apologies, guests, chair, secretary, and quorum are recorded or marked [to confirm]
• [ ] Conflicts of interest and recusals are captured if present
• [ ] Sensitive or uncertain items are flagged for governance/legal review rather than guessed
• [ ] The final draft can be approved as an official record without relying on hidden context

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not invent resolutions, votes, attendees, quorum, or action owners when the notes are silent
• [ ] Do not write a blow-by-blow transcript; minutes capture material discussion, decisions, and actions
• [ ] Do not use emotive or blame-heavy language; keep the official record neutral and factual
• [ ] Do not bury decisions inside long paragraphs; make approvals, deferrals, and actions easy to find
• [ ] Do not omit conflicts of interest, dissent, abstentions, or recusals when they appear in the source notes
• [ ] Do not provide legal advice; flag governance-sensitive items for qualified review