Speaking from my non-Wikimedia experiences with nonprofit boards, I think Risker makes
some good points.
Even a very good notetaker is going to make mistakes. There are things said they
accidentally didn’t hear, they misunderstood what someone was saying, or simply summarized
a point using wording that doesn’t sound quite right to the person who said it. Note
taking is a different skill from dictating ever word, and when a non-messenger is
summarizing for messengers, things tend to need edits before they are considered “final”.
However, that said, I do agree that our Board should be striving to do this faster than
has been done recently.
Regarding recording meetings, I have seen this tried before, and do not believe it is what
we are really looking for. In reality, as Risker noted, it changes the behavior of
participants - and usually not in an effective way. A lot more time is spent in meetings
pondering the “right” way to say something before you say it. When it’s not being
recorded, people are more inclined to offer early and incomplete thoughts. Perhaps it is
good for people to pick their words more carefully first, but in my experience, usually
makes the meetings less effective, and just results in a lot more “behind the scenes”
dealmaking and conversations. I believe these types of meetings are most effective when
they are a safe space to talk through complex problems. Additionally, I feel I should note
there is a very real difference between Wikimedia Foundation and the governments we are
sometimes compared to. WMF does not enjoy the same legal protections as governments do,
and our movement’s or Foundation’s public meeting documentation are not free from threats
of defamation/libel lawsuit threats (which Govt. meetings are free from). The end result
for organizations I have seen try this is that a lot less gets said in meetings out of
fear of being sued. The only way to really offset that would be to create a large legal
fund to prepare, but even then, who wants to the Board member that has dipped into the
legal fund half a dozen times in their terms? Also, is a legal fund defending potentially
offensive things said during Board meetings the best use of our donors’ dollars?
I absolutely 100% agree that work needs to be done to help both the organization and our
Board rebuild trust, and some of that needs to be either putting information out in better
ways, and making sure info IS out there. I also understand and have seen this particular
set of ideas come up as solutions for similar problems elsewhere. However, I do feel I
should point out that like some ideas that sounded good and logical on paper, when it was
tried out, the results were disappointing. It is entirely possible we’ll be the exception,
but I’m not personally very confident in that. As such, I think we should ponder ways to
make the notes posting process better, and ways that the Board can improve communication
outside of their official meetings. Plus, let’s be honest, the meetings are not where
everything is happening anyway. I want to know about the whole picture, not just that part
of it.
-greg (User:Varnent)
On Mar 3, 2016, at 10:36 AM, Brion Vibber
<bvibber(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
On Mar 3, 2016 7:00 AM, "Risker" <risker.wp(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Those who think it's an easy task that should be
able to be done practically after the meeting is
over tend to have no real
experience with writing and managing minutes at the international
non-profit board level and may not fully understand why it it is important
that they are correct before they're published. Publicly presenting an
early, uncorrected draft will lead to nothing but tears, but there are 9
board members (plus individual presenters) who have to read, correct and
approve [sections of] the minutes. The WMF Board is not and should not be
the most important person in the lives of any of our board members.
What sort of problems are envisioned from public drafting of minutes lead
by a dedicated secretary/minute-wrangler (ideally a professional staff
member with experience doing this and enough time to dedicate to it rather
than double-booking a trustee or a C-level)?
-- brion
Risker/Anne
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