Meetings and Minute Taking

The very word "meeting" can strike such dread can't it?

Like it or not meetings are a part of working life and if you are a PA, EA, VA, Secretary or Office Manager you probably have to organize a lot of them and more than likely take the minutes.

I have over 20 years’ experience of organizing meetings and taking minutes and I want to help you find the best way to do it.

First and foremost – do you actually need a meeting or can the same results be achieved via email?

Let’s face it – no one likes meetings, it’s hard to get everyone together and they always create more work.

A good rule of thumb is to use the lowest cost communication to get the job done clearly.

If you are sharing information or updates – something simple and straightforward like “the equipment will be delivered on Tuesday” then an email is sufficient.

If you need group buy in, a real time discussion or conflict resolution then a meeting is best.

You can download my free guide to determine if you need a meeting or email here.

So now you know you do need a meeting, what is the best way to do it?

If you are in a corporate environment then hopefully you have access to calendars so you can see the best time; if not then I suggest finding availability based on who is chairing the meeting and send a doodle poll to the other attendees.  NB: you are never going to find a time that suits everyone and the more people who need to be in the meeting the harder that will be so I suggest you decide who the most vital attendees are and prioritize their availability.  Once you set a time based on that you may find people do become available if they value the purpose of the meeting!

The next thing to do is the agenda – this is the document that lists

• Where and when the meeting will be held

• Whether it is in person or online

• How long it will be

• What the subject of the meeting is

• Who is invited

• Who is expected to contribute and what they are supposed to contribute.

Agendas and any pre-meeting reading should be sent at least 24 hours before the meeting.  This should be sent via email and if possible, added to the diary invite for the meeting.

If this is a meeting in an existing cycle you should also send the minutes and actions (if appropriate) from the previous meeting.

If this is a new meeting you should send a Terms of Reference document and an brief outline of the purpose of the meeting.

If this is a new meeting you (the minute taker) should have a short meeting with the Chair (the person leading the meeting) to understand their priorities and expectations. 

At the meeting.

• Do not let yourself be pushed off the table – it is very important that the minute taker literally has a seat at the table so they can see who is talking and feel the vibe of the meeting. 

• It can be helpful to have a round of introductions so everyone knows who is there – if you don’t know everyone it can be useful to do a table plan as a memory jogger.

• Take your minutes in whatever way works best for you – I personally prefer to type mine and then all I have to do is tidy them up, but if you prefer to hand write or use shorthand that’s fine too.

• Don’t be afraid to ask someone to explain what they mean if they are using terms you are unfamiliar with – I always had a list of acronyms I would check after the meeting!  More often than you would think acronyms have different meanings in different contexts.

• Be very cautious if someone says something is “not for minuting” and don’t be afraid to ask the Chair to confirm.

• In long meetings (2hrs+) don’t be shy about asking for a comfort break!

• The minute-taker is very important in meetings – you are there to take an accurate record of what happened at the meeting – you should also be the Chair’s second pair of eyes – the chair may not always notice someone trying to speak and you can help with this – this is especially important in online meetings – the Zoom “hands up” can be very easy to miss!

• My ideal has always been that if someone who wasn't at the meeting was to read my minutes they would have a clear idea of what happened and what the next steps were.

After the meeting

• Get your minutes typed up as soon as you can after the meeting.  For a new meeting or if you are working with a Chair you haven’t worked with before send them the minutes for checking before you circulate them to the wider group.

• If the meeting or the Chair have asked for a separate action tracker you can create this from the minutes – keep it clear and simple.  Personally, I hate using spreadsheets for text-based documents so I use word for this but if Excel works for you that’s fine.

• Once the Chair is happy with the minutes you can circulate them to the group.If this meeting was part of a series of meetings, then now is the time to create the agenda for the next meeting and remind anyone who has to present something at the next meeting of the deadline.

If you found this post helpful you would probably benefit from downloading my guide to managing meetings which is available here for only £10 and includes customizable templates for your own use. My templates are not downloadable but very simple to replicate and adapt.