How Much Time (and Money) is Your Municipality Wasting?
Running a local municipality requires different processes. To operate efficiently and effectively, it's important to have the right steps in place, to make those processes as simple and easy to follow.
This applies to all levels of operations. From city council meetings to planning commissions, accurate minutes play an essential role: documenting decisions, actions, and discussions, and action items.
Municipal clerks and city recorders play an important role in ensuring that meetings are documented accurately and efficiently. However, the traditional method of manually taking and transcribing meeting minutes can be time-consuming, error-prone, and costly. In this blog, we will explore the hidden costs of manual minutes and discuss how meeting minutes automation can help municipalities save time and money.
The Burden of Manual Minutes
Municipal Clerks and city Recorders are responsible for recording and transcribing meeting minutes, a task that requires keen attention to detail and strong organizational skills. In the past, this process involved taking notes by hand during meetings, relying on their notes and a recording and then transcribing them into official records. However, manual minutes come with a host of challenges that influence productivity and accuracy.
One of the biggest drawbacks of manual minutes is the time it takes to transcribe handwritten notes, while referencing the recording. This process is not only labor-intensive but also leaves room for errors and inconsistencies. Clerks and Recorders often find themselves spending hours poring over their notes and ensuring that every detail is accurately captured. Due to the process that follows, after the minutes are public record, like action steps and decisions, it's important that the meeting minutes are correct. This not only delays the dissemination of meeting minutes but also ties up valuable resources that could be better utilized elsewhere.
Moreover, manual minutes are susceptible to human error. From illegible handwriting to missed details, there are numerous opportunities for mistakes to creep into the documentation process. These errors can have far-reaching consequences. In a fast-paced municipal environment, accuracy and precision are non-negotiable, making the reliance on manual minutes a risky proposition.
In addition to the time and accuracy issues associated with manual minutes, there are also hidden costs that municipalities must contend with. The resources required to transcribe, review, and distribute meeting minutes can quickly add up, placing a strain on budgets and personnel. At a time when municipalities are under increasing pressure to make ends meet within smaller budgets, the inefficiencies of manual minutes are becoming untenable.
The Case for Meeting Minutes Automation
The good news is that there is a better way. By using technology to automate the minutes-taking process, municipalities can streamline this process to improve accuracy, and reduce costs. Meeting minutes makers offer a range of benefits that can help municipal clerks and recorders work more efficiently and effectively.
The top spot on that list is designated for ClerkMinutes!
One of the key advantages of ClerkMinutes is the gift of the reclaimed time. Instead of spending hours transcribing handwritten notes, it uses AI technology to generate accurate transcripts from audio/video recordings. This not only speeds up the documentation process but also allows Clerks and Recorders to focus on more value-added tasks, such as analyzing meeting data and preparing reports. By eliminating the need for manual transcription, automated minutes solutions can significantly reduce the time and effort required to produce accurate meeting records.
In addition to time savings, ClerkMinutes offers accuracy and precision. By using advanced AI algorithms, this solutions can capture and transcribe meeting discussions with a high degree of fidelity. This minimizes the risk of errors and omissions, ensuring that meeting minutes are comprehensive and reliable. It even features a tool to regenerate sections of the meeting minutes, if you’d like more detailed information to be added.
Furthermore, ClerkMinutes can help municipalities save costs by streamlining operations and improving efficiency. By reducing the time and resources required to transcribe and distribute meeting minutes, these solutions help Clerks and Recorders to work more productively and focus on higher-value tasks.
Real-World Examples of Meeting Minutes Automation
Dozens of municipalities have already embraced ClerkMinutes' solution with great success. For instance, the City of Elkhart, Indiana, recently implemented our AI-powered meeting minutes maker that has transformed its documentation process. By automating the transcription of meeting discussions, the city has been able to significantly reduce the time and effort required to produce accurate meeting minutes. This has allowed municipal staff to work more efficiently and allocate their time to other important tasks.
Similarly, the Town of Long View, North Carolina, has seen tangible benefits from automating its minutes-taking process. By using AI technology, the town has been able to produce meeting transcripts quickly and accurately, cutting time spent down from a couple of hours to 20 minutes. These steps improve the overall quality of its documentation. This has enhanced transparency and accountability in municipal governance, while also helping the town save costs and operate more efficiently.
How to Implement Automated Minutes in Your Municipality
If you're a municipal Clerk or city Recorder looking to implement automated minutes in your municipality, there are several key steps you can take to ensure a successful transition. Firstly, it's important to research different meeting minutes makers and choose one that aligns with your municipality's needs and budget. Look for a solution that offers advanced speech-to-text capabilities, robust editing features, and seamless sharing abilities.
Next, work closely with IT and procurement departments to secure buy-in and support for the implementation of automated minutes. Engage stakeholders, such as city council members and department heads, to build consensus around the benefits of automation and address any concerns or questions they may have. By building a collaborative approach to implementation, you can ensure a smooth transition to automated minutes and maximize the benefits for the entire municipality.
Once you've selected an automated minutes solution and obtained buy-in from stakeholders, it's time to pilot the technology and train staff on its use. Choosing vendors that offer comprehensive training sessions to Clerks and Recorders on how to use the solution effectively will help the team implementing the use of the tool. Encourage staff to provide feedback on the technology and be open to making adjustments based on their input to optimize its performance.
Finally, monitor the impact of automated minutes on your municipality's operations and track key metrics such as time savings, cost reductions, and accuracy improvements. Using a trial to start with, is a great example to measure the metrics over a set period eg. 30 days. Making use of a trial also means the team can test the tool before buying.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the hidden costs of manual minutes can be significant for municipalities, both in terms of time and money. By automating the minutes-taking process, municipal Clerks and city Recorders can save time, improve accuracy, and reduce costs, leading to more efficient and transparent governance. Meeting minutes automation like ClerkMinutes offers a range of benefits that can help municipalities work smarter, not harder, and focus on delivering high-quality services to their customers.
Eager to witness the transformative power of ClerkMinutes? Dive into a free trial of municipal meeting minutes today, allowing you to focus on what truly matters—nurturing your community.
Visit ClerkMinutes.com/try to start.
Written by: Jelena Slavkovic.