minutes taking guide

8/10/2019 Minutes Taking Guide

1/8

BusinessTrainingWorks,Inc. 0 www.businesstrainingworks.com

TwentyOneTipsforTakingMeetingMinutesBusinessTrainingWorks,Inc.

9015KatieCourt|PortTobacco,MD20677

(301)9343250

www.businesstrainingworks.com


2/8

BusinessTrainingWorks,Inc. www.businesstrainingworks.com

Thankyou

for

downloading

Twenty

OneTipsforTakingMeetingMinutes.

Wevepublishedthisdocumentto

providesomehelpforthepeoplewho

needhelpwithminutetakingandare

notpartofagroupthatwouldbenefit

fromouronsiteminutetaking

trainingprogram.

Formoreinformationaboutouronsite

trainingprogram,

visit

our

minutetakingcourseoutline. For

pricinginformation,downloadour

onsitetrainingpricingschedule.


3/8


TwentyOneTipsforTakingMeetingMinutes

Whilemostofushavehadtheopportunitytotakenotesforourownuse,takingtheminutesof

ameetingrequiresanaltogetherdifferentsetofskills.Forexample,inpersonalnotesitis

perfectlyfine

to

use

abbreviations,

symbols,

shorthandeven

drawings.

Your

own

notes

dont

havetobeneat(althoughithelps),followasetformat,haveallthewordsspelledcorrectly,or

showanyconsiderationforanoutsidereader.Theyreforyouruseonly.

Bycontrast,meetingminutesserveacompletelydifferentpurposebecausetheyarewrittenfor

others,andtheyfunctionashistoricaldocumentsthatmarkdecisionsandactionstakenbya

group.Therecorderofameetingsminuteshasahugeresponsibilityandmustbewillingto

takethejobseriouslyandcarefully.

Shouldyoufindyourselfbeingaskedtofunctionasaminuterecorder,thefollowingtipswill

helpyou

take

them

with

accuracy

and

ease.

1. LaytheGroundwork

Distributeminutesfromthepreviousmeetingbeforetheoneyouaregettingreadyto

attend.Thiswillgiveyouandeveryoneelseachancetorecallwhatwasdecided,who

neededtocompletecertainthings,andwhatstillneedstobedone.

2. KnowthePurpose

Tounderstandtheimportanceofthetask,rememberthatminutesserveseveralpurposes:

Theyareanhistoricalrecordofagroupsdecisionsandactions

Theyareareminderofwhowasgivenassignments

Theyareevidenceofdeadlines

Theyareabenefitforpeoplewhoareabsentwhendecisionsaremade.

3. GettheAgenda

Beforethemeeting,gettheagendafromthepersonconductingthemeeting,andmakean

outline.Doingsowillsavetime,buttakeaccuratenoteoftheorderinwhichthemajor

itemsare

discussed.


4/8


4. ChooseYourMethod

Figureoutbeforehandwhichrecordingmethodwouldbemostcomfortableforyou:

> notebook

> templateand

clipboard

> laptop

> taperecorder

> shorthand

5. AllSystemsGo

Whichevermethodyoudecidetouse,makesureyouhaveeverythingyouwillneed.Ifitis

electronic,makesureitworks.Justincaseyourchosenmethodstopsworking,havea

backupmethodinyourbackpocket.

6. LeaveSpaceinWhichtoWork

Howeveryoudecidetotakeminutes,provideampleroomonpaperfortakingnotes.

7. Here,Here

Ifpossible,havethenamesofallparticipantsbeforethemeetingbegins.Ifthisisnt

feasible,passaroundanattendancesheetoncepeoplearrive.Takenoteofwhoispresent,

whoismissing,whoarriveslate,andwholeavesearly.Makesureallnamesarespelled

correctly.

8. HaveaSeatingChart

Forinpersonmeetingsthatoccuraroundconferencetables,itsagoodideatocreatea

seatingchart,especiallyifnotalltheparticipantsareknowntoyou.Sinceyouwillhaveto

accuratelyrecordwhomakesmotions,itwillsavetimeifyouknowfromthechartwhois

doingthespeakingatanygiventime.

9. KnowEveryonesPosition

In

addition

to

knowing

peoples

names,

you

should

also

know

before

the

meeting

begins

whoservesonorheadsanycommittees.Likeknowingpeoplesnameaheadoftime,

knowingtheirpositionswillsavetimewhenfinalizingtheminutes.


5/8


10.CreateaMinutesTemplate

Sinceminutesmustcontainconsistentinformationregardlessofwhatgetsdiscussed,it

savesahugeamountoftimetohaveatemplateorpreparedfillintheblankformtouseso

thatyourtimeisntwastedwritingdownstandardinformation.Infact,muchofthe

informationcan

be

filled

in

before

the

meeting

actually

begins.

As

you

prepare

the

template,makesureyouhavethefollowinginformation:

Typeofmeeting(daily,weekly,monthly,etc.)

Purposeofmeeting

Date,time,andlocationofmeeting

Nameofpersonwhocalledthemeetingtoorder

Nameofchairmanorfacilitatorifdifferentfromthepersonabove

Namesofthoseinattendance

Indicationthataquorumwasorwasnotpresent

Approvalofpreviousmeetingsminutes

Allmotionsthataremadeandnamesofthosewhomadethem

Summaryofanyreportsthataremade

Resolutionsthatarevotedon

Informationregardingthenextmeeting(date,time,location)

Adjournmenttime

Nameofthepersonwhotooktheminutesandthedatetheyweretaken

Nameofthepersonwhoapprovedtheminutesandthedateofapproval

11.ListenwithCare

Oncethe

meeting

begins,

the

person

taking

the

minutes

has

the

difficult

task

of

doing

severalthingssimultaneously.Thehardestoftheseissortingthroughalotofverbiageto

understandwhatisactuallybeingsaid.Therecordermustlearntofocusonmajorissues,

actions,anddecisionsandnotonirrelevantcommentsthatmightbeinterestingbuthave

nothingtodowithwhatisunderdiscussionbythegroup.

12.JusttheFacts

Toimprovelisteningskillsinordertorecordappropriateinformation,practice

differentiatingbetweenstatementsthatarefactsandthosethatareopinions.The

recorders

objective

is

to

stick

to

the

facts.

These

are

pieces

of

information

that

are

beyond

disputeandobjectiveinnature.Bycontrast,opinionsarepersonalviewsthataresubjective

andeasilydisputedbyothers.


6/8


13.KeepitClearandSimple

Regardlessofhowyouwritedownwhattranspiresduringameeting,youwillneedtomake

yourfinalwordingintheminutesabsolutelyclearforthebenefitofothers.Towardthat

end,providelanguagethatisunderstandable,concise,andobjectivethroughout.

14.BeExact

Therecordermustbeabsolutelyaccurateinpresentingthefactsofameetingsinceonce

approvedminutesbecomeofficialdocumentsofanorganization.Insomecasestheyare

usedaswrittenevidenceincourtcases,sotherecorderhasatremendousresponsibilityto

beaccurateandobjective.

15.NotingMotions

Throughoutmeetings,itislikelythatparticipantswillmakemotions.Therecordermust

writedownnotonlywhatthemotionisbutalsowhomadeit.Itisnotnecessarytowrite

downthenameofthepersonwhosecondsamotion.Motionsmadebyacommitteedonot

requireasecondsincethecommitteeitselfismadeupoftwoormorepeoplealready.

16.WhatsonHold

Inadditiontothemotionsthataremade,seconded,discussed,andvotedon,therewillbe

occasionswhensubsidiarymotionsaremadetopostponetakingavote.Whenvotingona

motionispostponed,therecorderneedstoindicatethishashappenedandofferwhatever

informationisavailableaboutwhenavotemightbetakenonthemotion.

17.AddingYourVoice

Inabestcasescenario,thepersontakingtheminuteswouldnotbeavotingmember

amongmeetingparticipants.Thisdoesntalwayshappen,soifyouareaskedtotake

minutesandyouhavefullparticipationstatus,youwoulddowelltowriteoutquestionsyou

wanttoraisebeforethemeetingbegins.Youwillalreadyhaveyourhandsfulljustwriting

downwhatothersaresaying,andbywritingoutanyquestionsyoumighthavebeforehand,

thiswillbeonelessthingyouwillhavetothinkaboutasyourecordtheotherthingsthat

aresaidanddoneduringthemeeting.


7/8


18.Summarize

Duringthemeeting,youwillbewritingatwarpspeed,andunlessyouhaveexceptional

skillsforlisteningandsynthesizinginformationveryquickly,youwillprobablywritedowna

lotofinformationthatcanandshouldbecondensedoreliminatedaltogether.Noonewill

belooking

at

your

personal

notes

at

this

point,

but

you

must

be

able

to

make

sense

out

of

themyourselfinordertopreparethemfordistribution.Focusonthemajorpointsthat

weremadeduringeachdiscussionandthedecisionsthatthegroupreachedaboutthese

points.

19.DontDelay

Thesooneryoucanfinalizeandtypeuptheminutesthebetter.Asmoretimepasses,you

mayforgetimportantitemsthatyouheardbutdidntwritedown.Themoretimethat

passes,thelessaccuratetheminuteswillbecome,evenifyouhaveusedataperecorder.

20.ProofreadwithCare

Youhavebeenentrustedwithaheavyresponsibility,andwhileaccuracyofinformationis

yourprimarygoal,youalsohavetheobligationofmakingthatinformationunderstandable

toothers.Itwontbeifyoudontproofreadeverywordyouhavetyped.Youwillalsoblow

yourcredibilityasareliableinformationproviderifyouproduceminutesthatarefilledwith

misspelledwords,incompletesentences,abbreviations,andinaccuratepunctuation.Take

prideinyourwork,andkeepinmindtheexpression:Whatsworthdoingisworthdoing

well.

21.

NotSo

Fast!

Ifpartofyourjobastheminutesrecorderincludesdistributingtheminutestoeveryone,

youshouldhavethemapprovedbythemeetingschairorfacilitatorbeforetheyare

availabletothosewhoneedtohavethem.Theyshouldbeasclosetoperfectasyoucanget

thembeforeanyoneseesthem.


8/8


Formoreinformationaboutminutetakingtrainingforyourgroup,

pleasecontact

us

at

[email protected]

or

301

934

3250.

minutes taking guide

Documents