Running a meeting well isn’t just about keeping things on track — it has a direct impact on whether your meeting minutes are clear, accurate, and comply with Ontario’s Condominium Act. As chair, your style, preparation, and leadership set the tone for how decisions are recorded, understood by all, and defensible later. Here’s how to chair a meeting in a way that ensures excellent minute-keeping, along with how the Minutes App by My Condo Space helps you do it better.
What Ontario Law & Best Practices Say
Before diving into the practical steps, it helps to understand what’s expected under Ontario law and from governance best practices:
- Under the Ontario Condominium Act, minutes must include a concise overview of what happened at board meetings: the discussions, decisions, votes/motions, and attendees.
- Quorum must be confirmed. Without quorum, decisions may be invalid.
- Sensitive or confidential matters (e.g. legal, HR, litigation) should be handled appropriately; in-camera or executive sessions must be documented carefully without disclosing confidential detail improperly.
- Best practice guides recommend that minutes include: date, time, location; attendees (present, absent); motions/resolutions (who moved, who seconded, vote result); action items with who is responsible; and clear summaries of decisions (with rationale where relevant).
How to Chair a Meeting for Clear, Compliant Minutes
Here are step-by-step tips for meeting chairs to ensure clarity, compliance, and accuracy in minute-taking.
1. Prepare the Groundwork
- Circulate a well-structured agenda in advance
Share the agenda with numbered items, topic leads, estimated times. It helps everyone know what will be decided vs. what’s for discussion. - Review previous minutes and action items
Understand what was decided last time so you can accurately record follow-ups. It helps avoid gaps or redundant discussion. - Clarify roles
Remind attendees of who is the minute-taker, who leads each agenda item, and what the format for motions, seconds, and votes will be.
2. Start Strong
- Confirm quorum at the outset
State that quorum is present. If someone joins late or leaves, note it. If quorum is lost, adjust accordingly. This is essential for legality. - Call to order at the scheduled time
This signals that the meeting is formally underway, and establishes a reference point for timelines, attendance, etc. - Approve the previous meeting’s minutes
This ensures the record is updated, corrections are addressed, and you have a clear baseline for what is carried forward. Best practice says don’t let approvals drift.
3. Run the Meeting with Intention & Clarity
- Stay on the agenda
Keep discussions focused on topics listed; bracket or postpone off-topic items. This makes minutes simpler and more relevant. - Clearly present motions, seconds, votes
Every time there’s a motion: the chair should restate exactly who moved, who seconded, and when the vote is taken, and then announce the result (“motion carried,” “motion defeated,” etc.). Ambiguity here causes minute errors. - Summarize discussions with rationale
When decisions are made, it helps for the chair to recaps reasoning (“due to cost concerns,” “based on the recommendation from the finance committee,” etc.). Helps future reference and legal clarity. - Assign action items as you go
At each accepted motion or decision, confirm who is responsible and what the timeline is. The minute-taker needs that clearly.
4. Deal with Sensitive & Confidential Matters Properly
- Use in-camera sections when needed
If the board must deal with personnel, litigation, or other private matters, move to an in-camera portion. Record entrance/exit times, and note that in-camera portion without disclosing sensitive content. - Ensure confidentiality protocols
Agree beforehand on what is private, who may see the in-camera minutes, and how to handle redactions or limited access.
5. Close with Review & Next Steps
- Recap major decisions & motions
Before adjourning, go over what motions were passed, key decisions taken, and any action items with deadlines/responsibilities. - Announce next meeting time & place
And also any items that will carry over to the next meeting. Ensures continuity and clarity.
How the Minutes App Helps Chairs Execute Best Practices
The Minutes App by My Condo Space isn’t just a tool for note takers — it gives chairs a suite of features that support better meetings, clearer minutes, and more confidence in compliance. Here’s how:
| Best Practice | How Minutes App Helps |
|---|---|
| Using structured agendas | The app aligns agenda items as stated so topics, motions, and decisions map cleanly. |
| Accurate attendance, motion & vote recording | Audio recording + transcription ensures that motions, votes, who moved/seconded, etc., are captured word-for-word. No guesswork. |
| Rationale & decisions clearly summarized | Because the tool tracks discussion and supports summarization, the rationale behind decisions is preserved. Chairs can use the summary to restate decisions clearly. |
| Prompt draft & approval | Minutes drafts are ready almost immediately after the meeting. Chairs can review while things are fresh, approve them quickly, so official records stay current. |
| Handling in-camera or confidential segments | The app supports marking sections as confidential (when so stated), adding “for redacting” details as needed, while still noting decisions. |
| Permanent, searchable records | Everything is stored securely (cloud or database), with backups. Historical access remains smooth, even when board members or management changes occur. |
Sample Scenario: How a Meeting Should Flow
Here’s a realistic example of how a well-chaired meeting could run, showing where the chair’s actions help produce compliant minutes:
Scenario: Budget discussions, maintenance contract approval, and a personnel issue in-camera.
Before the meeting: Agenda sent with “Budget Review,” “Maintenance Contract Motion,” “In-Camera: Personnel.” Previous minutes reviewed.
At the meeting:
- Chair confirms quorum.
- First agenda item: “Budget Review.” Speaker presents. After discussion, chair allows questions, then asks for motion. John moves, Mary seconds. Vote is taken. Chair states “Motion carried.”
- Next: “Maintenance Contract” discussion. Rationale noted (vendor quoted higher vs lowest bidder, warranty differences). Motion made, seconded, vote result clearly stated. Action: Manager to negotiate warranty extension.
- In-camera: Chair announces move to in-camera, notes start time. Discusses personnel. Decisions are made; chair exits in-camera and records exit time. Only the decision is noted (e.g. “Personnel decision made as discussed”), without including private discussion.
- Chair closes by summarizing motions and action items, confirms next meeting date.
By the end, minutes generated by the Minutes App would already have most of this in draft, making approval and record-keeping smooth and legally solid.
Conclusion
A skilled chair isn’t just a moderator — you’re the guardian of clarity, transparency, and compliance. How you run a meeting shapes how easily minutes capture the true record of what happened. By using these best practices — clear agenda, strict motion protocol, sensible handling of confidentiality, effective closing — board meetings become easier to follow, safer legally, and more useful for owners. And with the Minutes App by My Condo Space, chairs have a built-in ally: tools that align with these best practices, reduce risk, speed up approval, and maintain accurate, searchable historical records. It’s how well-chaired meetings turn into legally clean, trustworthy minutes.