What is MOM or Minutes of Meeting in Construction Project?

 Minutes of Meeting or "MOM"

Minutes of Meeting "MOM"

What is MOM or Minutes of Meeting in Construction Project Management?

Generally, various formal or informal meetings happen to discuss various issues like the Progress of the project, Design issues, financial issues, Contractual issues, etc. and a Party expects specific commitments and clarifications from other parties. Hence meetings are to be arranged. These meetings happen weekly or monthly or periodically. So it is essential to take note of such commitments, and clarifications for future references. Furthermore, In the Arbitration process, these records can be submitted as proof. Hence it is required to be recorded correctly. 

In this article, we will discuss how to write the Minutes of Meetings. 

 Purpose of minutes 

Minutes are written as an accurate record of a group's meetings, and a record of decisions taken. They are useful because people can forget what was decided at a meeting if there is no written record of the proceedings. Minutes can also inform people who were not at the meeting about what took place. 

 

What do the minutes contain? 

Before each meeting an agenda should be drawn up, detailing the matters to be discussed at the meeting. A set of minutes should normally include the following information:  

• Time, Date, and Place of Meeting 
•  List of people (Employer, Contractor, and Engineer) attending 
•  List of absent members of the group 
•  Approval of the previous meeting's minutes, and any matters arising from those minutes 
•  For each item in the agenda, a record of the principal points discussed and decisions taken; 
•  time, date, and place of next meeting; 
•  Tips (if any) 
• Signature of attendees. 

Who writes the minutes? 

It is normal practice that the engineer to be given the task of writing the minutes by the Employer. 

Note that Contractor writes “Record Note of Meeting” but not Minutes of Meetings. 

Guidelines for Minutes of Meetings 

Following are guidelines for writing the effective Minutes of Meetings: 

a) Make sure that all of the essential elements are noted, such as type of meeting, name of the organization, date and time, name of the chair or facilitator, main topics, and the time of adjournment. 

b) Prepare an outline based on the agenda ahead of time, and leave plenty of white space for notes, by having the topics already written down. 

c) Prepare a list of expected attendees and check off the names as people enter the room. Or, you can pass around an attendance sheet for everyone to sign as the meeting starts. 

d) To be sure about who said what, make a map of the seating arrangement, and make sure to ask for introductions of unfamiliar people. 

e) Don't make the mistake of recording every single comment, but concentrate on getting the gist of the discussion and taking enough notes to summarize it later. Remember that minutes are the official record of what happened at a meeting, not what was said.

 f) Use whatever device is comfortable for you, a notepad, a laptop computer, a tape recorder, a steno pad, shorthand. Many people routinely record important meetings as a backup to their notes. 

g) Be prepared! Study the issues to be discussed and ask a lot of questions ahead of time. If you have to fumble for understanding while you are making your notes, they won't make any sense to you later.

h) Assigning responsibility is one of the major tasks in the Meeting. Carefully assigning the responsibility of activity as leads to future conflicts between the parties. 

i) Following is a list of Types of meetings conducted for any construction projects 

•  Tender Clarification Meeting 
•  Weekly Progress Review Meeting 
•  Monthly Progress Review Meeting
•  Design Coordination Meeting 
•  Health, Safety and Environment Meeting 
•  Arbitration and Claim Meeting 
•  Variation Order Meeting 
•  Special Meeting (called in an emergency) 

Note: If you want MOM Format, then Do mail on this mail id 

" vyaskumar305@gmail.com "