At some point you will have to take minutes either on a conference call or in a meeting. The first thing to do is make sure you are prepared. Here are some tips to help you in preparing for taking minutes during a meeting or from a conference call:
Pick what you are comfortable using to take the minutes such as laptop, steno, short-hand etc.
You can record the meetings as well and transcribe later. You have to pick what works best for you.
Have the minutes from the last meeting readily available so you can be familiar with what might be brought up in the current meeting.
If there is a formal agenda for the meeting make sure you have a copy so you can easily follow along when you are taking your minutes.
Make sure you are familiar with attendees from the meeting so you can document much easier who says what. Some companies will use table tents in a meeting but if you are doing via conference call be familiar with who is participating on the call.
Make sure your laptop works properly so there are no hiccups.
These are just a few tips to help you prepare for taking minutes. The main thing is that you use what you are comfortable with to take the minutes. If using a computer be sure you save your document often so that you don’t lose any information.
Now that you have prepared yourself it is time to take the actual minutes. In the beginning, you will automatically want to take down every single thing that is said. We all do this at one time or other so we don't forget anything that might be relevant.
Here are a few tips to help you decide what minutes you should take:
Try and use keywords instead of full sentences. This will help, so you do not miss the important items by worrying about a complete sentence.
Make sure you are fully engaged in the conversations, do not try and do other work while taking minutes in a meeting.
You do not have to type a full conversation between people just take down a few bullet points.
You can set your laptop up to record the meeting as long as there has been prior approval to do this. This will allow you to go back and review just in case something may have been missed.
When taking board minutes, you need to make sure that motions are fully documented.
Try using bullets for several actions items; this will make it easier for you when you go back to type up the actual minutes.
Follow the agenda and have the agenda and minutes from the last meeting that way if anything is brought up from the past meeting you will have handy to refer back to. Actions items always need to be recorded as well as updates from the last session.
These are just a few tips but you have to do what you are comfortable with, and you will know after attending a few meetings and taking minutes what you should be taking down and what is not relevant.
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