The document discusses best practices for minute taking at meetings. It covers preparing for meetings by setting agendas and inviting participants. During meetings, minute takers should listen actively and take detailed notes, recording discussions, decisions, and assigned actions. After meetings, minute takers write up the minutes following a standard structure including headings, attendance, previous minutes, discussion items, and future meeting details. The minutes should be distributed quickly and filed for future reference. Effective listening, note taking, and writing skills are important for accurately capturing meeting content.

1. Class Reps: Minute-Taking
2018-2019
2018

2. What we’ll cover this evening…
The minute taker’s role
Listening
Capturing what’s said
Writing up and structuring minutes

3. The weird language of meetings
Formal
Informal
Everyday

4. The Minute Taker’s role
• In small groups,
identify the key
tasks of an SSCC
minute taker.
• What skills will you
need to complete
these task?

5. The Minute-Taker’s Responsibilities
Taking down notes accurately
Writing the notes with
responsibility and ownership
Distributing the minutes and
filing them for future reference

6. The Minute-Taker’s Task
Before Meeting
• Preparation
During Meeting
• Writing down
actions and
conclusions
After Meeting
• Distributing
the minutes

7. Meeting Preparation
• Organising the meetings
• Inviting participants
• Setting the agenda

8. Setting the Agenda
Producing the agenda (with the Chair)
It sets clear objectives
It provides pre-meeting information
It includes all relevant items
It shows the structure and timing of the
meeting
It shows who is required

9. Listening Skills

10. The importance of listening
• Stay focused on the speaker
• Don’t tune out dry-sounding information
• Try not to evaluate as you are listening
• Show you are ‘actively’ listening
• Ask clarifying questions
• Don’t interrupt
• Brain Vs Ears

11. Tips for taking notes
• Draw up a table plan
• Print off an agenda for
you to write notes
against with big spaces
• Record the action to be
taken clearly and the
date when it’s to be
done by

12. Writing up minutes
• Take notes during the meeting, write minutes up afterwards
• Do it soon!

13. What you’re aiming for
1. Background
2. Discussion
3. Decision
4. Action
• Whilst being: authentic, complete, concise, free from ambiguity,
in the past tense

14. The structure of minutes
• Beginning
• Middle
• End

15. Beginning
• Heading
• Attendance
• Present
• In attendance (i.e. not a member of the committee)
• Apologies
• Absent
• Item 1: Previous Minutes
• Item 2: Matters arising from the previous minutes

16. Middle
• Item 3. Business
• Go through in order of the agenda (keep the same
numbering)
• Make a record of what was said
• E.g. a brief outline of the discussion and actions agreed or…
• Just a record of the actions [in bold, with initials of who is
responsible]

17. End
• 4. AOCB
• 5. Date of next meeting
• Chairperson’s name and date

18. The power of words
How you minute conversations can subtly change how the reader
interprets the minutes:
• Use “They”
• Past Tense: “…said, stated, argued, contested, emphasised,
reinforced, stressed, urged, declared, mentioned”

19. Once minutes completed
• Distribute quickly: 80:20 rule
• File them safely somewhere – paper and electronic?

20. Professional Skills Curriculum
• Development programme open
to all students
• 11 graduate key skills graduate
employers value
• Dip in and out, or complete 8
and a reflective essay to receive
certificate
https://www.facebook.com/ ProfessionalSkillsCurriculum