Back in June I wrote a short review of MyCommittee, an online tool to manage committees and meetings. I concluded that there was a lot to like about MyCommittee and that it would suit a small to medium organisation with reasonably complex agendas.

I also highlighted some issues with the interface and a number of limitations, including the fact that the task management feature was problematic for organisations with a staffed secretariat as actions could only be scheduled for committee members. There was also little ability to change the terminology in the agenda, but my biggest concern was the inability to view resolutions in anything other than chronological order and the lack of any facility to extract them for storage in a separate database.

I took up these shortcomings with the program’s creators, who indicated that they might be considered in the next release of the program – and that’s just what has happened. Paul Cox from MyCommittee has just responded, noting that the latest version addresses some of my concerns. I’ve only had a chance to check it out briefly but I’m pleased to confirm what he’s said – plus more. MyCommittee now has the following:

• More flexibility in customising the agenda template – for example, changing the terminology and order of the standing items at the beginning and end.
• The ability to create custom lists of resolutions, by date, keyword, status, etc.
• A facility to export any list of resolutions in PDF, CSV or XML format to print or import into another application or database.
• Access for committee members to subcommittees (to view and download meeting minutes, resolutions, etc.).
• A greater range of roles for committee members, including “resource”. This could cover non-voting staff attending the meeting, who I assume could be allocated tasks, but I have not yet tested this facility.

Of these improvements the ability to create custom lists of resolutions and export them is the most significant. Not only does this make it easier for organisations to set up their own resolutions databases, it also provides the ability to download and backup resolutions offline. I suggested in my review that organisations needing this facility should hold off until it was implemented – but with its incorporation in the latest version, now is definitely time to have another look at MyCommittee.