Thursday, January 27, 2011

tips on how in writing effective meeting minutes


1. Know the purpose

Before writing minutes, you must know the purpose of it. First, a report of meeting minutes is a record. But it is just not the type of record you write, print out, file and then forever forget. It provides a historical account of official business and operational decisions, and involvement of people making the decisions. It is used as a reference which is periodically, or frequently referred to. Sometimes, minutes  of meeting can become a legal document and evidence in court. So, don’t play play.

2. Keep it concise

Keep the key information in order and make sure you don’t miss critical info. You only have certain limited time and it will be impossible to write every single thing discussed during a meeting. So, keep it concise, i.e. compact and short. Take notes of the issues discussed, major points raised and decisions taken. Make sure what you write will be easily understood, and usable in the future. Keep in mind, many of the meetings require the attendees looking back at the previous meeting’s minutes. So if people can’t read them, they’ll go for your head instead.

3. Get right info, follow right format

To keep it short, here are list information that should be in your minutes of meeting:
·         Time, date and venue of meeting
·         List of attendance (and their position)
·         Agenda of meeting – key agenda, details, and specific action plan, and owner/executor of the plan
·         Name of person taking minutes (you!)

4. Keep a record

Normally, after minutes are hand-written, they are transferred into a proper computerized document (e.g. Microsoft Word or Excel), properly restructured, save and printed out. Good and fast typists can immediately record conversation into the computer/laptop, where this requires less time for fine tuning later on. The minutes are then distributed among the attendees of the meeting, or those who will be responsible to take actions as per discussed during the meeting.

Tips & Warnings

When typing the meeting minutes, number the pages and use consistent tense. Avoid using names, except in cases of motions or seconds. Limit the use of adjectives and adverbs. Avoid personal observations. Attach additional documents, if applicable, in an appendix or state where they can be found.




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