Writing of Minutes
Writing of minutes can save time and money. Good minutes are concise and to the point, but at the same time, they do not leave out critical information. Succinct minutes that capture the purpose of the meeting and its agreed outcomes are a record that can be referred back to and be used for follow up purposes later. Minutes are the official record of an organization. It is crucial that they are accurate since they are the legal record of the proceedings and actions of the organization.
Sometimes meeting ends up having to repeat the meeting. It is important to capture the essence of the meeting, including details such as:
- decisions made (motions made, votes, etc.)
- next steps planned
- identification and tracking of action items
Meeting minutes are very important. They capture the essential information of a meeting – decisions and assigned actions. They keep attendees on track by reminding them of their role in a project and clearly define what happened in a group session. How many times have your colleagues been confused or in disagreement about what happened in a meeting? With minutes to refer to, everyone is clear. Minutes are a tangible record of the meeting for its participants and a source of information for members who were unable to attend. In some cases, meeting minutes can act as a reference point, for example:
- when a meeting’s outcomes impact other collaborative activities or projects within the organization
- minutes can serve to notify (or remind) individuals of tasks assigned to them and/or timelines
Tips for Effective Minutes
- Date and time of the meeting
- Location of the meeting
- Names of the meeting participants and those unable to attend (e.g., “regrets”)
- Acceptance or corrections/amendments to previous meeting minutes
- Meeting Agenda
- Topics
- List of “attendees” and “apologies of absentees”. This is a fancy term for attendance sheet. Note whether a quorum is present (the number of people sufficient to carry out votes).
- Decisions made about each agenda item, for example:
- Actions taken or agreed to be taken
- Next steps
- Voting outcomes – e.g., (if necessary, details regarding who made motions; who seconded and approved or via show of hands, etc.)
- Motions taken or rejected
- Items to be held over
- New business
- Next meeting date and time
- People Responsible
- Deadline
- Adjournment of meeting
Tips that might help your note taking:
- Create an outline – Having an outline (or template) based on the agenda makes it easy for you to simply jot down notes, decisions, etc. under each item as you go along. If you are taking notes by hand, consider including space below each item on your outline for your hand-written notes, then print these out and use this to capture minutes.
- Check-off attendees as they enter the room – If you know the meeting attendees, you can check them off as they arrive, if not have folks introduce themselves at the start of the meeting or circulate an attendance list they can check-off themselves.
- Record decisions or notes on action items in your outline as soon as they occur to be sure they are recorded accurately
- Ask for clarification if necessary – for example, if the group moves on without making a decision or an obvious conclusion, ask for clarification of the decision and/or next steps involved.
- Don’t try to capture it all – you can’t keep up if you try to write down the conversation verbatim, so be sure to simply (and clearly) write (or type) just the decisions, assignments, action steps, etc.
- Record it – literally, if you are concerned about being able to keep up with note taking, consider recording the meeting (e.g., on your smart phone, iPad, recording device, etc.) but be sure to let participants know they are being recording. While you don’t want to use the recording to create a word-for-word transcript of the meeting, the recording can come in handy if you need clarification.
In contrary, avoid the following
- Don’t skip writing minutes just because everyone attended
- Don’t describe all ‘he said’, she said details
- Don’t include any information that will embarrass anyone.
- Minutes are the official record of an organization. It is important that they are accurate since they are the legal record of the proceedings and actions of the organization.
