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How to take meeting minutes
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Keep it Simple, Keep it Real

Simplicity is the key.  Much of the time, it's fair to say that logging the decisions taken or actions to be followed up is enough and that's pretty straightforward. If it takes two hours to agree on a new coffee machine, there is no need to document the entire discussion!


However, if the subject was something sensitive, like staff reductions, then more detail would be appropriate. In the same spirit of keeping things simple, there is usually no need to name names in minutes, which after all are about collective responsibility and decision-making.

 

There's a New Kid in Town

After the person chairing the meeting, the minute taker is the most important person present, by virtue of the importance of their role in recording what was discussed and decided accurately. If you are taking the minutes, then you have a right to speak out, in order to clarify a point you may not have heard clearly; it's in your own interests to do so. The days of the minute taker being a silent stenographer, at the mercy of a domineering chairman, should be long gone.

To preserve anonymity - and emphasise the collective responsibility of the meeting - minutes should be written up in what is known grammatically as the passive voice, so rather than 'Ms Smith agreed to make funds available' it should be 'It was agreed that funds should be made available'.

Troublemakers in meetings tend to sit opposite the chairman (male or female). These are confrontational types, so mark them and be ready to disarm them. If you have a good relationship with the person chairing the meeting, it will pay you dividends. Properly trained - by you - the meeting chairman will halt proceedings at your request and itemise key points to be recorded - remember: you're not a stenographer or a mind-reader.

 

Be Sure to Finish Your Homework

When you're putting things in place for the meeting: agenda, venue, refreshments, AV and so on, make sure you also block out some time to get the minutes written up afterwards, preferably away from your desk, where you can use a PC without distraction. By and large, companies get the minutes they deserve and if they don't support you when you're carrying out this important task, then they deserve the minutes they get!

Don't feel you've got to write down the whole meeting verbatim - most of your readers are busy people who only want to know one thing from your carefully-crafted minutes: 'What am I expected to do?'. Edit the minutes hard - right down to the bare essentials.

 

No Hidden Agendas

Most meeting agendas are woefully light on detail and the resulting meetings can be vague and wander off-track. Let attendees know exactly what's going to be covered and they will come better prepared and the meeting will be clearer, more productive - and shorter! If there's going to be a lot of technical jargon involved or acronyms get an expert colleague to help you make a short list of keywords, with their spellings and potted explanations, in advance of the meeting.


Work the room: check the room layout before the meeting starts some simple changes to the layout of the room can help meetings go with a swing.


 

Sharper Minutes for a Sharper You

Effective minute writing is critical to every PA - and indeed anyone who works in an office. The economy of style and directness of thought that minute-writing dictates, applies equally well to all kinds of writing work, so ensuring your minute-writing skills are honed and polished will always stand you in good stead - and make you look good, too. With greater confidence in your abilities, you will change from being a passive observer and recorder of meetings, to an active and valued participant.

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