Minute Taking

Why Minute Taking Training?

Many people struggle with minute taking simply because they have not been given the tools and confidence to do it. And yet, there is often pressure on the minute-taker to get it right - to produce a clear and concise document that serves as an official record.

By developing a set of specific skills to take brief but accurate notes and to produce a document that is 'fit for purpose', even an inexperienced minute-taker can quickly reduce the amount of time and energy that minutes often take up - freeing them to focus on other, perhaps more important/pressing tasks.

Individuals wishing to improve their minute taking skills are often interested in finding ways to:

• Enhance their confidence to create effective written documents that need little or no editing by a 3rd party

• Avoid trying to write down everything that is said in a meeting

• Accurately record complex issues and discussions - even when people are talking over each other

• Stay focused and interested, even when they are not familiar with the topic or the jargon

• Determine what is relevant, what is not, and what they should/should not be writing down

• Contribute to, or chair the meeting whilst taking on the role of minute-taker

• Reduce the amount of time taken to type up minutes from pages of notes

Although many novice minute takers are given the advice to just write down as much as possible, or to copy the style of the minutes that the previous person produced, this is not always helpful. Attempting to take verbatim minutes at a meeting full of unfamiliar people discussing an unfamiliar topic can be very daunting.

Learning some simple techniques, including effective preparation and focused note taking will make the whole task a lot less challenging, and will help the minute taker to produce more useful documentation that the meeting participants will actually want to read!