Don't vote on minutes—It's a waste of time!

Every organization I've ever been a part of has meetings. And inevitably there are minutes for those meetings. And for some reason we feel like we should vote on them, which means we ask for a motion, and a second, and then the vote. It turns out that this not only feels like a waste of time, it is a waste of time.

Instead, when the chair turns to the minutes, state they have been distributed in advance (this provides an opportunity for someone to ask that they be read aloud, as was traditionally done), and ask, “Are there any corrections to the minutes?” Revisions are typically made by unanimous consent but when there's a dispute about a correction, there can be a vote that follows the same procedure as any other amendment.

After the chair provides ample opportunity for corrections, the chair may say, “There being no [further] corrections, the minutes are approved [as corrected].” No formal vote is necessary, even if a formal motion was made. The secretary’s corrected copy of the minutes or a retyping of it becomes the official record after this approval. Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (11th ed.) § 41 pp. 354–55.

A version of this was also posted on Law Meets Gospel at http://tinyurl.com/o97bbmm.