Effective Minutes Writing

Minutes are not just for the record; very often, it is also the basis for action and decisions. Any person who attends a meeting may be asked to take up this important task. As minutes provide an official record of what has taken place during the meeting, you must be very accurate and clear.

Familiarise yourself with the common challenges that most people will encounter when taking down minutes, know how much you should take down during a meeting and how to write correctly.

After the workshop, you will be able to:

• have an overall understanding of how meetings are conducted
• know the techniques for taking and summarising notes of meetings
• practise writing notes of discussions and minutes of meetings clearly and concisely

Outline

• Common Meeting Terms
• Order of business in meetings
• Language for minutes
• Types of minutes recordings
• Style in Minutes
  – paragraph size
  – sentence length
  – note form or sentences
  – attributability
  – tense
  – reported speech
  – active and passive voice
  – numbering
  – punctuation
  – notes
• Summarising techniques for reporting and discussion items
• Note-taking Techniques
• Summarising Discussions
• Styles in minutes
• Difference between minutes and notes of discussions