Program/Software for Keeping Minutes/Assignments

[danielSweber]

I'm a new ward clerk and we're currently using a program to keep track of assignemnts, agendas, minutes, etc. during bishopric mts and ward council - it's called Asana. It's okay but has it's flaws, just wondering if anyone out there uses another program that they're really happy with that they would recommend. Thanks.

[sbradshaw]

Do bishopric and ward council members track their progress on specific assignments, and update the status on Asana? Using a complex tracking system seems like overkill to me, but it depends what you expect out of it. When I was a clerk, I took notes during meetings directly into an email message and hit the send button just before the closing prayer. The first part of the notes went through the main points we discussed, and a separate section at the end listed specific assignments that were given. Towards the end of the week, the executive secretary would then create an agenda for the next meeting, and send it out as a Google Document (which others could edit before the meeting).

[danielSweber]

Yea, it's a remnant from a prior bishopric and we're rethinking whether or not it still makes sense. I like your approach, keeping it simple. Thx for sharing.

[thkelley]

I'm an executive secretary. We've been using Asana for minutes/assignments as well as keeping track of action items. One of the principal flaws is that the free version does not have access to some of the tools that help generate reports or set up filtered views of workflows. We also have several google sheets that have some redundancy, but low barrier to entry for those uncomfortable with a tool like Asana.

Bottom line, our setup is complicated and we're starting to get overwhelmed with information in different places. Some of the results have been missed appointments or double bookings to organization leaders missing out on assignments or meeting notes.

I would love a free, simple tool to aggregate and communicate information to help administer ward business. Even better if some of these capabilities could be built into LCR.

[jlherbst]

Our stake has been using ClerkTools for several years and it has now become virtually unusable this year if you want to add new users. It's main flaw is having to maintain/update the callings for the entire stake and ward leaderships. Producing agendas and taking minutes are it's strengths. We're now needing to find a new way of doing this. Ideally having these features, along with being able to recommend callings, track progress with the calling process, missionaries, assignments, share stake business for the High Council to conduct, etc. integrated into LCR and the Member Tools app would be extremely helpful - especially with so much of stake and ward meetings and business being conducted online and virtually.

[danielajones1]

I have recently been looking at using Asana for our ward council. Our challenge is that we get emails and text messages all with a variation of participants in each and it is hard to keep them all straight and follow up on them all. A single point location, like Asana, would be great so that all communication can be in one spot and stay organized. This would allow presidencies to know the status of requests for callings immediately as well. I was actually going to meet with our bishopric this week to discuss how we should use Asana and roll it out to the ward council. If anyone has a better solution I would love to hear it. Email and text are insufficient. I like the fact that Asana can send notifications on updates to actions or remind you to complete a task.

[jdlessley]

A single point location, like Asana, would be great so that all communication can be in one spot and stay organized. This would allow presidencies to know the status of requests for callings immediately as well.

The calling process and the status of callings is confidential. Only the organization presidency submitting names should know of the status of callings until a calling is sustained (General Handbook, 3.1.4). Make sure the communication in Asana can maintain this confidentiality.

[munaish]

If you're an everyday sort of computer user, and need to collaborate with other members of the council, I might recommend using Google Docs, and Google Calendar. They each have collaborative features. You can collaborate with Abiword, too, but Google Docs is probably preferable there.

If you just need to multitask and text edit quickly and efficiently on Android all by yourself, and are a programmer-type person, I recommend using Termux, with the Nano text editor with a bluetooth keyboard.

Termux is a command-line Linux that you can install on Android (it's just an app; it doesn't replace Android with Termux).

Nano is a command-line text editor for Linux.

These all have a learning curve. I recommend learning how they work before you do anything too serious.

[russellhltn]

A convenient as software tools are, please be cautious about what information in stored/shared there. I'd be very leery about recording information about members without their consent. While the risk may be low, the personal impact could be high if things go wrong.