Mastering Minute Taking

Minute taking for most businesses, clubs or community groups is an absolute must.

Minutes should be taken any time members of an organisation gather for an important discussion, especially if it will involve decision-making. Board meetings, committees, hearings and AGMs should all be minuted in one way or another. Those minutes will serve as a permanent record, providing an audit trail that’s easy to refer back to in future.

Excellent record keeping is fundamental for any organisation. Getting it right can be really tricky. If you’re tasked with taking minutes (or finding someone who can) here’s everything you need to know to master the basics.

Start at the end

Minute taking is a nuanced art - there is no ‘right’ way to do it. Knowing the audience, purpose and uses of the minutes before you begin will help you know what to listen out for during the meeting, how to record the key points in your notes and how to present the finished minutes in their final form.

If you’re delegating minute-taking to another person, make sure you get the outcomes you need by clearly explaining how you want the task done. Providing examples from previous meetings is a quick and easy way to make your expectations clear.

Ask Questions

Distractions and interruptions are par for the course in most types of meetings. Anything that draws your focus can make it hard to capture the threads of a complex discussion.

We’ve all been there. Think of how often your attention waivered in a meeting because of the arrival of latecomers, the clatter of coffee cups, or the telltale ping of an un-silenced phone. These micro-distractions can be even worse when we take into account tech troubles and unstable connections if the meeting you’re minuting is a virtual one.

If there’s anything you don’t quite catch or don’t fully understand it’s important to ask questions… and plenty of them. You may need to ask for acronyms to be explained, for someone to clarify their point, to speak up so you can hear or to repeat something that you missed.

Summarise, don’t transcribe

Minutes are a record of what’s been discussed and decided, and the actions that will happen as a result. They’re not a verbatim transcript of everything that was said.

Good minute takers can listen to a round-the-houses discussion and distil the important bits into a clear and concise summary. Even if the meeting is long and convoluted, the minutes shouldn’t be. Brevity is best.

Accurate minute taking is a sophisticated skillset combining cognitive skills, admin acumen and a high degree of focus, quick thinking and good judgement.

If you’re struggling to get minute-taking right in your organisation, let’s talk. I’d love to help.