Taking Minutes for Family Council Meetings: A Primer
Par Family Councils Ontario
Taking minutes is sometimes considered an onerous task and many Family Council members are reluctant to be the minute taker. Preparing meeting minutes doesn’t have to be complicated and we have compiled a few tips and ideas to help.
Why are minutes important?
Minutes serve as a record of what happened at the meeting. For those who cannot attend the meeting, minutes serve to help to quickly understand the essence of the meeting. The minutes also are a reminder to all Council members of any tasks assigned to them or timelines that need to be considered.
Minutes are also a record for any family who may want to join the Council and want to have a quick overview of recent meetings.
Confidentiality
Family Councils are a forum to share the challenges and the successes of being a caregiver. These matters are confidential and it is important in taking the minutes to ensure confidentiality. This means that recording what a discussion is important but it is equally as important to understand that who said what during the discussion should not be recorded.
For all meetings the Council should agree that things discussed, of a personal nature, should not be shared with anyone outside of the meeting and while the theme of the discussion can be noted in the minutes the individuals involved should not be named.
During the meeting
It is easy to use the agenda or meeting outline as a template for note taking.
The minutes can include how many people attended and can also record who attended and if there were any guests.
The minutes record what the discussion was about and if the Council is taking any action on what was discussed. Some Councils do this formally through making a motion while others assign tasks as needed.
Sharing challenges
Sometimes Councils will discuss things that are critical of the Home. These may include matters related to the care of a resident or residents. While it is important to record the essence of these discussion, it is essential to use language that is objective and not inflammatory. Using thoughtful language goes a long way in building respect and understanding with the Home administration and staff, and indicates a willingness to work together to solve challenges. The fewer adjectives and adverbs used, the better in terms of keeping objectivity.
Recording differing perspectives
Members of Councils bring many perspectives, expertise, and experience. All members should feel comfortable bringing these forward at Council meetings, however when there are disagreements it is important to record only the essence of the discussion and not who was speaking.
Recording things to be brought to the attention of the Homes
Sometimes a Council may have questions about programs and activities in the Home or how the Home delivers particular care. These things can be noted in the minutes and the resulting action can be to invite the person in charge of that particular program or activity to come and speak about it at a future meeting.
Sometimes there are specific questions to the administration; these can be noted in the minutes, however in cases where the Council would like the administration to respond a separate process may be needed. Most Homes have a complaint process for Councils and/or families to follow and it is important to direct any complaints to that process. Usually it involves writing down the question or observations that are of concern on a form provided by the Home and then given to the administrator or other contact person. In the Long Term Care Homes Act it states that when the administration receives the written complaint it has ten days to respond to that question. This means that while they may not be able to completely solve whatever is brought to their attention, they do need to give you a response.
If the process of notifying the administration of a complaint in your Home is not clear it is important to clarify with your Family Council Assistant what the process is and how to access it.
In recording complaints, remember to use objective language that is not inflammatory and stay away from adjectives and adverbs. The more objective the Council is in recording these challenges, the more it demonstrates the Council’s willingness in building a team approach with the staff and administration of the Home in solving problems.
Disseminating minutes
Minutes should be shared with the Council members before the next meeting. The best way to disseminate the minutes is to email them at least a week before the meeting (if not sooner) with a reminder of the upcoming meeting.
Approving minutes
One of the first items on the following meeting’s agenda is to approve the minutes of the last meeting. Once the minutes are approved it is best practice to have the meeting chair and secretary sign them as approved. Approved minutes can then be either posted on the Home’s bulletin board in the space reserved for Councils, if available, or on the Council’s bulletin board. Leave the minutes posted until you have new minutes to replace them with and then take the posted minutes down and put them in a record keeping binder or other storage system.
Some Homes do not yet have a bulletin board available for Councils and in those cases putting the approved minutes right into a binder is an option. The binder should be made available to anyone who is interested in joining the Council. Where the binder is kept can be worked out with your Family Council Assistant. Minutes are by and for the Family Council and are your record of the meetings. It is not required that the minutes be approved by anyone other than the Council.
Keeping official copies of the approved minutes
Having the public binder kept up to date is an important part of minute keeping. It is also best practice to keep a second separate file with a copy of the approved minutes clearly dated. This can be done electronically or can be a hard copy file that is kept in a place available to the Council. Since Council membership can change quickly, files and related documents of the Council need to be kept somewhere that everyone is aware of so that if and when new members join they can access Council archives.
Taking minutes is an important aspect of Council work but does not have to be a daunting task. FCO is always available to support you in your Council work. Our Family Council Handbook, Your Guide to Starting and Maintaining a Family Council, has lots of information and can be freely downloaded from our website: www.fco.ngo. If you have further question about minutes email us at info@fco.ngo.