Minute Taking for Professional Secretary

Meeting minutes, sometimes known as mum (for minutes of meeting), are the written records of all the events that took place during a meeting. They are used to let others who weren't present know what transpired at a meeting or to maintain track of decisions made so you may review them later and use them to guide new decisions.

What Are the Steps in Meeting Minutes?

• Pre-Planning 
• Meeting Record Keeping
• writing or transcribing minutes
• sharing or distributing meeting minutes
• Minutes are stored or filed for future use.

What Function Do Meeting Minutes Serve?

The word "minutes" shouldn't scare you off because it's a little deceptive. After all, your committee or board does not desire or require a record of every minute of its meetings! But it's crucial to capture the meeting's substance, including specifics like:

• choices made (motions made, votes, etc.)
• following actions planned 
• action item identification and tracking

For those who were present, minutes serve as a tangible record of the meeting, while also providing information to those who were not. Meeting minutes occasionally serve as a useful resource, such as:

• to inform (or remind) participants of tasks assigned to them and/or deadlines
• when the outcomes of a meeting have an influence on other collaborative activities or projects within the business.

What Should Be Included in Meeting Minutes?

It's critical to comprehend the type of information you need to document at the meeting before you begin taking notes. As mentioned earlier, your organization might have mandatory information and a particular structure for meeting minutes that you must adhere to, but generally speaking, meeting minutes should contain the following:

• Calendar details for the meeting
• Names of attendees and those who were unable to attend the meeting (for example, "regrets")
• Acceptance of or amendments/corrections to the previous meeting minutes

Decisions taken about each item on the agenda, for instance:

• Taking or agreeing to take actions
• Next actions
• Voting results, such as (if necessary, details regarding who made motions; who seconded and approved or via show of hands, etc.)
• Submitted or rejected motions
• Items to be held over
•  New business 
• Date and time of the next meeting

Check out our Minute Taking training course to learn more and gain in-depth knowledge