This is an extensive guide which describes the steps on how to:
- Plan a meeting
- Write agenda
- Send invitation
- Write minutes
- Comments and review the minutes
- Review minutes
- Approve minutes
- Sign minutes
- E-signature
- Signed minutes
Click the links above to get to the specific section or follow the step-by-step guide.
1. Plan a meeting
Plan a meeting
To plan a meeting, click "Meetings" and "Plan meeting" in the left menu.
It is possible to create the meeting several months before it takes place. Set the title, meeting number, time, location, theme, purpose, and preparations. Learn more about meeting numbers in the guide Meeting number.
It is possible to mark if the meeting should be a video meeting and to send meeting information.
This is not an invitation to the meeting but a way to send information about the planned meeting.
You can save your meeting plans by clicking the "Save" button or "Save and continue" to begin setting the agenda.
2. Agenda
The next step is to create the agenda for the meeting. There are three tabs when writing an agenda is Agenda Templates, Agenda and Preview.
Use an agenda template
Under the Agenda Templates tab, you can preview and use the organization's saved agenda templates by clicking the "Preview" and "Use" buttons next to the desired agenda template.
If you want to create the agenda without a template, click the "Skip" button or the Agenda tab.
Customize or edit the agenda
To edit the agenda, click the "Agenda" tab. To add more items, click the "Add items" button.
You can change the order of the items by clicking and dragging the six dots at the far left of each one.
Click on the arrow to fill in more information than just the title. Then you can:
- Fill in the item description
- Attach one or more files to each item
- Prepare minutes text
- Prepare decisions and to-do tasks
- Enter time estimate
- Specify rapporteur
Tip! For more detailed information on how to write and edit an agenda, see the Create and Edit Agenda guide.
Add attachments
You can attach files to the agenda by clicking Attachments and dragging and dropping files there. You can select a file from your device by clicking Choose file. If you click Choose file from archive, you can select a document from the organisation’s document archive.
Read more in the guide Add and include attachments to the minutes about how to include attached attachments in the minutes.
Additional features
If you click the three-dot icon (···) there are additional features:
- Save as template - If the agenda should be saved as an agenda template. Useful if you want to create a recurring structure. See the guide Save agenda as agenda template
- Upload agenda - If the agenda was written externally, you can upload the file. See the guide Upload external agenda or minutes
- Export agenda - If you want to create a PDF export of the agenda.
- Changelog - If you want to see changes made to the agenda. See the guide Agenda/Minutes Changelog
- Change numbering - If you want to change which number the first item in the agenda should be. Note! This requires the organisation to have the setting activated. See the guide Change the start numbering for the agenda and minutes items
- Delete - To delete the agenda.
Preview the agenda
You can preview the agenda by clicking on the "Preview" tab. Make sure everything looks good before proceeding to the next step and sending the invitation.
The next step is to send the invitation. Proceed to send the invitation by clicking on "Mark agenda as done".
3. Invitations
Invite members to the meeting. Write a message if needed. The agenda can be attached to the invitation as a PDF. If you select this option, recipients do not need to log in to view the agenda.
Click "Send invitations" to send the invitation.
If you want no invitation should be sent, click the "Skip sending invitation" button instead.
4. Minutes
Start writing the meeting minutes by clicking the "Write minutes" button.
With this step, the system locks the agenda for editing, and an invitation cannot be sent.
Attending members
Set the attending members in the "Attending members" tab. Select the secretary, reviewer and signatories. If the chairman and another person are to adjust the minutes, both need to be marked as reviewers.
Members who are called to the meeting are always listed from the start.
A limited user who is set as the secretary for a meeting can manage and write the minutes.
To add external attendees, click "Add more" then "Create new" and enter the name and email in free text. An external person can sign the minutes. Make sure to mark the person as a signer.
To write the minutes, click the "Edit minutes" button.
At least one reviewer and one secretary must attend the meeting. Note that external persons cannot be designated as reviewers or secretaries for a meeting; a user account must be invited to the organisation.
Minutes
In the next step, the minutes are edited item by item, like in the agenda. If needed, you can add more items by clicking the "Add item" button.
Attachments
Add attachments to the minutes in the "Attachments" tab. Select if attachments should be included in the minutes.
Attachments cannot be included in the PDF that is signed with e-signature.
Preview
The minutes can be viewed in the "Preview" tab. When you are finished, click the "Comments and review" button.
5. Comments and review
Request comments
Comments on the minutes can be requested from any user or only from reviewers.
To request comments from any user (not review), click the "Request comments" button.
All persons selected to comment on the minutes receive an email requesting their input.
When all selected commenters have clicked "Done with commenting", the secretary receives an email stating that the comments have been collected.
Mark minutes as done
When the minutes are ready for review, click the "Mark minutes as done" button.
Send for review
When the minutes are ready for review, click the "Send to reviewer" button.
You can skip the review step by clicking the "Mark as reviewed" button instead.
If necessary, write a message and specify the review deadline. Select the person(s) who will review the minutes. Then, mark whether all board members should be notified when the review is complete.
Then, choose whether signatures should be requested immediately after the completed review or after the board's approval.
Finish by clicking "Send." Read more about this in the guide Send minutes directly for signing after the review is completed.
All people selected to review receive an email requesting that they review the minutes.
6. Review
The reviewer receives an email requesting a review of the minutes. The reviewer clicks the "Login to Boardeaser to read and comment on the minutes" link in the email to enter review mode.
To write comments as a reviewer, click "Write comment", write the comment and finish by clicking "Comment".
The reviewer then completes the review by selecting one of the following statuses and clicking "Send review":
- Request changes: With this status, the reviewer requests that the secretary update the minutes according to the comments.
- Approve: The reviewer approves the minutes with or without comments.
When all reviewers have completed their reviews, the secretary receives an email with each reviewer's status. If one or more reviewers have entered comments, these should be reviewed. The secretary can then choose whether to edit the minutes and send them out for review again or present them for approval.
7. Approve minutes
When the review is completed, the minutes are available for approval. This can be done at the next board meeting or at any time before that. A person must click the "Approve" button to mark the minutes as approved. This person needs the proper authorization level.
When the minutes are approved, an email is sent to every signatory member at the meeting.
8. Sign minutes
When the minutes have been approved, all members who stand as signatories for the meeting will receive an email requesting to sign the minutes. Click "Sign" next to your name to sign the meeting.
If necessary, remind signatories to sign by clicking the "Remind" button next to the person who needs a reminder.
9. E-signature
Our partner, Assently, handles the e-signature. To sign, scroll to the bottom of the generated meeting minutes and click the green "Sign now" button.
10. Signed minutes
Once everyone has signed the meeting or it is marked as signed, you can locate it in the "Meetings" and "All meetings" sections of the left menu. Then click the "Archived meetings" tab.