Mostly not. But many interactions such as a Risk and Audit Committee are required to have minutes and signed by all participants. This is usually for all sessions which shape and oversee key policies such as Risk, AML, Audit, etc…
That is why you document the meeting. Record minutes. And save them. Don't require signatures of attendees, and definitely don't say "Go home and think about this." Signed acknowledgments is not how documentation works in governance processes. Meeting minutes and documented decisions are.
If you don't have someone taking detailed meeting minutes, the meeting might as well not have happened. Always take notes and send to all participants promptly to verify accuracy. Isn't this Running A Meeting 101?
Yes but there's almost always someone on zoom/conference line in the meeting, which is recorded, so..
The penalties are so stiff for a lot of infractions, there is far less attempts to workaround the letter of the rules than you would immediately expect.
There's also classes of in-person meetings with externals that you need pre-approval permission to attend and to write up what was discussed after the fact.
Like people at asset management firms attending a dinner with a broker.
Another example, at a hedge fund I worked, emails, meetings or phone calls to public companies required pre-approval from compliance, and for them to be on the email or call. The emails would also require a preface reminding the moron on the other side that you are a hedge fund and they should not provide you with any material non-public info.
I've found that, with the exception of daily stand-ups, all meetings must have a bullet point agenda and notes should be sent out for each meeting with risks, action items, issues and ownership of those items. If both of those things are lacking, I doubt how useful the meeting will be or was.
I've yet to work at a place where meeting minutes, sent out to all attendees post-meeting, aren't sufficient for the same purpose (ass covering & continued adherence to The Plan as originally agreed).
I'm sure signature and date places do exist... but, I'd probably be looking for a new job if I worked at one.
A long time ago, my boss at the time taught me a valuable lesson: every meeting needs an official record(/log/minutes/whatever) documenting all noteworthy decisions (D), tasks (T, with deadline and responsible person), and information communicated (I), with that record being sent to all participants by end-of-day.
The reasoning being simple:
If anything of consequence was discussed in the meeting, then the official record is a valuable documentation (and the basis for the next meeting).
If nothing of consequence was discussed in the meeting, then the meeting was a waste of time and should never have taken place in the first place. Somebody wasn't prepared for the meeting they scheduled.
Like a good commit message, an official record as described above is cheap (doesn't take more than 2-3 minutes to write) and often delivers a fantastic ROI.
You need a dedicated person to take meeting minutes, ideally someone who isn't otherwise part of the meeting because humans are bad at multitasking. I especially find it hard to take notes and focus on the meeting (nevermind actually contributing).
You might be surprised finding out that nearly all meetings are recorded by one or more participants for transcription, automatic notes, summaries and action points.
Rules for meetings I try to follow. I got these from a book but I forgot which.
- All meetings must have an agenda distributed in advance, stating purpose and topics.
- All meetings must have a time limit and no more than an hour.
- Every meeting has someone assigned to take notes of decisions, questions, and action items, including responsibility and expectations agreed to. The notes get distributed to the attendees shortly after the meeting (email works).
- Stick to the agenda and schedule. Respect everyone’s time.
You can take notes on paper or on a laptop. The people responsible for following up can transfer to whatever medium works — tickets, issues, memos, more meetings.
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