Have you been struggling to crack the art of effective minute taking?
The right way to write meeting minutes is to not write them at all.
Seriously. If you happen to be the sorry sucker writing meeting minutes as part of your job then it’s time to have a self-intervention (it’s a thing, well sort of) and ask yourself what you’ve done wrong to now be enduring the hellish torture of minute taking. Once you’ve done the necessary introspection, it’s time to update that CV and get yourself out of this mind-numbing job that you’ve ended up with.
If the recruiters aren’t banging on your door after sending out your sparkly new CV, then maybe consider stopping by your local grocery store and begging the manager for a job as a cashier, an inventory assistant, a floor cleaner; anything really would be better than a job that requires you to painstakingly spend more than double the meeting time transcribing Greek-like words for an audience that is most likely never going to open up the document you send to them.
If you still can't seem to find other means of gainful employment and you’re still unfortunately stuck minute taking, here are a few tips to not suck horrendously at it.
1. Use a good template
Emphasis on the word good. Using a good template will make your minutes easier to read (if by some miracle someone decides to read it) and save you a ton of time by ensuring that only necessary information is included.
2. Do not transcribe every word of the meeting
Speaking of necessary information, meeting minutes are not a transcription of each and every word spoken in the meeting. It’s meant to be an accurate record of key points discussed in the meeting.
3. Ensure that the action list a clear and concise
The action list is essentially the to-do list that arises out of having had the meeting. Make use of verbs - “doing words” for those of us who can’t be bothered with remembering the 8 different parts of speech. Verbs ensure that we are explicit and clear about how the task in question needs to be actioned. Also, be sure to assign the task to a single person who will be responsible for actioning said task as well a due date.
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