1.
Minute by
Minute
Learning the Skill of
Taking Meeting Minutes
A Guide For Administrative
Professionals
Beckie Layton
Administrative Consultant
& Freelance Writer

2.
Objectives &
Outcomes
A. Understand the purpose and importance of
accurate minutes
B. Learn the three primary components of
minute-taking
C. Identify Essential tools and fundamentals for
creating your own standardized templates
D. Learn Tips for practicing and improving

3.
A. The Purpose and
Importance of Minutes
q To serve as an official permanent record of who
was present, what was decided, what actions
must be taken, who must take them and when.
q To support decisions around policies & procedures,
finance & budget, and staffing (and the like).
q To inform those who are unable to attend of the
business that transpired in their absence.

4.
Example #1 of how minutes
are used and why it is
important they are accurate
and complete:
In all Magnet® designated hospitals, nurses have Shared
Governance Councils where practice decisions are made by
nurses. At a Seattle hospital, when writing their Magnet® re-
designation documents, they wanted to use an important
Guideline of Care (GOC) as evidence in response to one of the
component requirements.
They had to provide evidence that nurses did indeed make the
practice decision that led to the creation of that GOC. When
they went back two years to the minutes of the Quality Practice
Council where the work was done, they couldn’t find definitive
documentation of the work, who did it, or the council approval
vote for the final GOC.
Result: They were unable to use that GOC to respond to
the component requirement.

5.
Example #2 of how minutes
are used and why it is
important they are accurate
and complete:
A very busy general contracting company held Job Supervisor
meetings every Monday afternoon at 4:00 pm. Since they had
jobs all over Western Washington, some supervisors were unable
to attend or call in. Minutes of the meetings were to be posted
on their work site and emailed to all supervisors by 11:00 am the
following day.
The admin was distracted during the meeting as they debated
an issue that he felt wasn’t important, so he began reading
emails. Unfortunately he didn’t record a decision that supervisors
would be required to attend a one-time-only safety training on
the new equipment by the vendor the following Monday at 2:00
pm.
Result: Six job supervisors missed the valuable training

6.
Example #3 of how minutes
are used and why it is
important they are accurate
and complete:
The Western Washington Chapter of the Association of Women in
Small Business meets on the 1st Thursday of the month. Minutes are
distributed via email within five days of the meeting to a
membership of over three hundred. At the May meeting, the
Chair announced that a respected successful business women
would be coming to speak to their membership at the June
meeting and all were welcome. They would move the meeting to
a larger venue if the membership showed interest, so they were
asked to RSVP to the Chair by the end of May.
The recording secretary recorded the information but neglected
to put in the information requiring that those who wanted to
attend should RSVP by May 30th – so the larger venue was not
secured.
Result: Over 150 people arrived to the regular meeting
location that only held fifty people to see the speaker.

7.
B. The Three Primary
Components of Minute Taking
One: Preparing for the Meeting
a) No less than 5 days prior to meeting
secure final agenda from chair/meeting
owner
b) If not provided already, contact
presenters and ask for PowerPoints or
any other documents to be presented
c) Make sure you have full name, title and
credentials of all presenters

8.
One: Preparing for the Meeting - Continued
d) Send out Agenda no less than 3-days
prior to meeting to participants with
meeting reminder (note: if available you
can attach documents)
e) Prepare meeting minute template with
current date and agenda items. Extract
information from documents received
when possible and insert links to web
sites (internal & external) if available
f) Update sign-in sheet and bring extra
pens – print out handouts

9.
Two: The Meeting
a) Arrive at least 30-minutes prior to start time to
make sure room is set up correctly and AV
equipment is working properly
b) Set up welcome table with sign-in sheet(s)
and handouts
c) Position yourself in the front of the room
where you can see all participants and
screens
d) Make sure you have water and have taken
care of any business that might require you
to leave during the meeting

10.
Two: The Meeting - Continued
e) Just the facts! Summarize each presentation
using Who-What-When-Where-Why and if
applicable How
• John Doe, Director of HR, presented the overall
findings from our last employee survey.
• He reported that we met our goal in all areas so
bonus will be issued to all employees on Nov. 1,
2014.
• You will be receiving full results in an email today
and you are being asked to present the results to to
your staff sometime in the next two weeks
f) Keep all judgments out of your minutes –
even if someone gets ‘frustrated’ or there is
a ‘heated debate’

11.
Three: After The Meeting
a) Minutes should be completed and sent
to the chair for review as quickly as
possible
• If chair requests changes they can be made
prior to posting/sending out and change
doesn’t need to be noted
• Proofread – it is your job to be accurate
b) Minutes should be disseminated
accordingly within 7 days, or sooner if
organization requires
• If member of group wants to make a change
after minutes are sent out – this would be an
amendment and should be called out at next
meeting and noted in those minutes

12.
C. Essential Tools & Templates
Essential Tools
› The laptop is the best tool to use for taking minutes -
Type directly into your prepared minute template
The Benefit is you can quickly finalize and send for approval
› Keep the agenda and steno pad at hand
The Benefit is you are ready to take notes and corrections
to aid in a prompt turn-around of your final minutes
› Prepare tent cards with attendee names – very
helpful in more formal meetings
The Benefit is you always know who is speaking; this is very
helpful during motions and voting

13.
Essential Tools &
Templates Continued
› Have minutes from previous meetings on hand
The Benefit is you can easily refer to them as needed or as a
resource for the meeting chair/facilitator
› Create a Meeting Fundamentals sheet listing everything
about the meeting (e.g., purpose of meeting, location,
recurrence, chair, members, where to save minutes &
how to disseminate, timelines for actions, etc. )
The Benefit is if you are unable to attend for any reason,
anyone can access this information and fill in with very little
disruption, if any
› Never check your email or do other work during the
meeting – stay focused and attentive

14.
Templates
Ø Chances are, you will be asked to use an
established template for your minutes and
agenda
Ø It is highly probable that these templates were
created by another admin and asking the
chair/group if you can update or create a
new template is acceptable
Ø Having a standardized structure and look to
your agenda and minutes is important to the
overall professionalism of your contribution to
the work of the group
Ø Use same font, colors and style on agenda,
sign-in sheets and minutes
Ø Resist making frequent changes to these –
consistency is appreciated

15.
Creating
Templates
Your agenda & minute templates should both contain:
1. Name of Organization (logo if applicable)
2. Name of Meeting
3. Name of Chair or facilitator
4. Date, Time, Location of Meeting
5. List of agenda items in order in which they will be
presented and by whom
q Agenda only should list how much time each item is
being allotted
Need help creating templates? Go to
BeckieLayton.com. Use “Contact” tab and
make request in the comments section –
Please reference Minute-by-Minute
Presentation

16.
Creating
Templates
The Minute Template should contain:
1. On top of page one, all items on previous slide
2. On top of page one, list of all those in attendance and
those absent
3. First item should be approval of previous minutes
4. If any corrections to previous minutes are agreed to,
they should be noted as an Amendment in item two
5. Next to each item title and presenter name, area for
minutes
6. Next to minutes should be an area for Action Items or
follow up – include who is to do what and when
7. Last item should be date and time of next meeting
8. Always number pages “1 of 5”

17.
Creating
Templates
Your templates can be very basic or more complex.
This will be determined by the kind of meeting and the
type of information being conveyed.
² If your committee/group/council is larger with
many different things going on, the AID Action
Agenda and AID Action Minute Template may be a
useful tool.
² Members know what to expect from each item on
the agenda a head of time; and AID can be used
on minutes as well
› A = Action
› I = Inform
› D = Requires Decision and Feedback

18.
Sample AID Action Agenda

19.
Sample AID Action Minutes

20.
Commonly Used Words And Phrases
Group discussed…
It was noted that…
Motion approved
Motion rejected
It was suggested…
It was agreed that…
It was concluded that…
Tabled until next meeting
Presented
Proposed
Opposed
Time sensitive
Action items
The pros are…
The cons are…
After much discussion…
After some discussion…
Asking for your input
Asking for your approval
Forthcoming
Defer to
In summary

21.
Practice Makes Perfect
Anyone can build their minute-taking skills. Here are
a few suggestions:
Ø Ask to sit-in on meetings where someone is taking
minutes and you take your own minutes – later you
can compare to identify areas of improvement
Ø Take minutes at meetings even if not required – ask
someone to review to see if you captured
everything of importance
Ø Watch on line videos like Ted Talks and take
minutes – watch again and see if you captured all
the key points
Ø Ask for critique and feedback from your peers
Ø Practice – practice - practice

22.
More References
› Robert’s Rules of Order – Quick Reference
http://www.robertsrules.org
› Formal Meeting Etiquette
http://etiquette-ny.com/formal-business-meeting-protocol/
› Administrative Assistant to Board of Directors
http://wiki.asuw.org/wiki/
Administrative_Assistant_to_the_Board_of_Directors
› Bing images of meeting minutes
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=meeting
+minutes&qpvt=meeting+minutes&FORM=IGRE
› Download Meeting Templates
http://www.meetingtemplates.com

23.
Beckie Layton is an Administrative Consultant and Freelance
Writer with a foundation in the corporate world. As an
experienced Administrative Professional with more than 20-
years of experience at a world-class organization and a small
business owner, Beckie is adept in all aspects of office
management, project management and process improvement.
Beckie is available for speaking engagements, consulting,
project collaboration and content contribution.
bdlaytonwa@comcast.net http://beckielayton.com
Seattle, Washington