How To Take Meeting Minutes

Call it being prepared for a rainy day, or call it being tenable, it is quite essential for you to keep a record of all the meetings you attend, especially if you are entrusted with the task of taking down the minutes.  It might be a meeting with the biggies in the market to seal a big deal in favor of your company or it might be a small meeting to rephrase company norms and to instruct employees. Irrespective of the subject of the meeting, you should have some sort of record of the proceedings of the meeting for future reference. Meeting minutes serve as aids which helps you in reviewing the agenda of the meeting later on in time. Minutes of the meeting (MOM) is nothing but the detailed summary of a particular meeting, the topic of discussion, the people present, their details, the points brought forward, the arguments made and the conclusion drawn at the end of the discussion. So, if you are the one selected to take down the minutes of a meeting, then these tips on how to take meeting minutes will help you in your endeavor.

Taking Meeting Minutes

Know Your Job
In order to do a good job while taking meeting minutes, it is important on your part to start preparing yourself well in advance. It is advisable for you to go through the previous meetings minute’s format and study it thoroughly. It will benefit you if you know the agenda of the meeting well in advance.

Preparation
It is better if you make arrangements to sit next to the chairperson to be able to clarify any doubts and confirm items. Get a hard copy of the agenda and collect the materials to be presented in advance. Doing this will make it simpler for you to understand the content and will make easy the distribution of the minutes after the meeting. If you are in a long meeting with people whom you don’t know, it is advisable to circulate a paper in which everybody can write down their names.

Use A Template
It is prudent to make use of a proper template to take down the minutes. Using a template will provide a similar look to all the meeting minutes and will make it simpler for you to comprehend. Using a template also improves the quality of the meetings by providing you with all the aspects of the meeting whenever you require it. An ideal template should include the following information: Name of the meeting, date and time of the meeting, location of the meeting, minutes submitted by (your name), minutes submitted on, participants, participants which are absent or arrive later, status: Draft / Final, agenda item, name of topic owner, category (task, decision, information), due date (for actions), person in charge (for actions) etc.

Categorize Items
It is essential on your part to categorize the items in the meeting minutes. You should clearly state if the particular item is for information, decision or action. Categorizing the items in meeting minutes makes it logical and user friendly.

Include Attachments
Make it a point to jot down all the information presented in the meeting together in the minutes. Attaching information on all the materials together will make it easier for you to get back to the topic and purpose of the meeting sometime later.

Confirm Your Understanding
It is better for you to check and recheck the notes you have taken as minutes in the meeting. Every time an agenda comes to an end, get back to the information you have noted down to confirm your understanding of the same. This will help you provide flawless data and information on the meeting for future reference.

Circulate The Draft First
Make it a point to circulate the draft copy of your minutes before sending the final copy across. The participants can make corrections in the draft copy, which you can use to make corrections in the final copy.

Tips

• It is advisable to sit as close as possible to the chairperson during a meeting. This will allow you to clear your doubts without much difficulty.
• Make note of both the concerns and accomplishments discussed in the meeting.
• Make it a point to write the minutes in a sequel. Everything relating to a particular topic should come under that topic name and not in some other corner of your minutes.
• It is important for you to check if you have taken down the correct email addresses, telephone numbers and the right name spellings.