The Do's and Don'ts of Writing Minutes of Meeting

Posted on Jun 13, 2024 at 11:06 PM

Perhaps, taking minutes of a particular meeting for the first time may seem quite overwhelming but worry not. If the right attitude towards it is adopted and the process is pursued correctly, it can be a rather uncomplicated and even a pleasure to have to do it. These outstanding records give a summary of the important points and decisions made in the meetings, thus makes everyone responsible.

If you are not sure how to write minutes of a meeting, this article will help you with the general guidelines and tips.

How do I write the minutes of a meeting?

Meeting minutes include identifying the important points of the discussion, the decisions made, and the follow-up actions allocated in meetings, and putting them down in writing. 

The key is not to get lost in the transcription of all the things that were said but to pay attention to the essentials. Here’s a quick guide to get you started:

• Preparation: Before participating in a meeting, it is helpful to prepare yourself by looking at the proposed meeting agenda, realizing the purpose of the meeting, and familiarizing yourself with the participants.

• Attendance: Begin your document by highlighting when the meeting was conducted, where it was held, the attendees and whether there were any absentees.

• Agenda Overview: Summarize the key items on the agenda that will be addressed.

• Recording Discussions: Take notes for all the essential points of the conversation, whether everyone was on board, and if there were any opposing views from the participants.

• Action Items: If there is anything that needs to be done or achieved as follow-up, then list them, and record who should do it and by when.

• Distribution: Be certain to circulate the minutes of the meeting to all the stakeholders as soon as possible.

Now, let us go further and see some guidelines on what is required and forbidden when writing minutes of meeting.

The Do’s of Writing Minutes of Meeting

If you're a secretary starting your duties recently and want to create your first formal meeting minutes, here are a few tips for you:

• Be Prepared: It is necessary to check the list of topics to be covered, so you would know the main topics to be addressed. Create a structured guideline or a checklist to streamline the process and avoid missing out on anything.

• Be Concise and Clear: – Contribute to the main discussed issues, things that were done or decided, and things that will be done. Your document should be easy to read, so we recommend you use bullet points and headings.

• Use Accurate Terminology: Confirm that you are using appropriate terms and language depending on the meeting you intend to have. Review the names, dates, and numbers to ensure their credibility.

• Highlight Decisions and Actions: Ensure that decisions made during the meeting are clearly stated. Provide the specific actions that should be taken along with the person who is responsible for taking the action and the expected time frame for completion of the actions.

• Review and Edit: After taking the minutes, it is vital to check them to ensure they are accurate and comprehensible and contain a summary of everything that happened. Check for any spelling or grammatical mistakes that may have occurred.

• Ensure Timely Distribution: Circulate the minutes within 24-48 hours after the meeting. Make sure that all your colleagues get a copy as well as ensure all the related stakeholders get one.

• Keep learning: take Secretary courses in London to learn more about these practices and how you can perfect them.

The Don’ts of Writing Minutes of Meeting

The following are some of the common pitfalls or things to avoid when writing the minutes of the meeting:

1. Don’t Transcribe Every Word: Not every word should be included. The goal is to keep track of the key points and results only.

2. Avoid Personal Opinions: Minutes should be an objective record of the meeting. Do not add your individual opinions or interpretations to what was said during the task.

3. Don’t Delay Writing: It is best to write the minutes while the discussions are still fresh in the mind of the person taking down the minutes. Writing is not easy and any delay in this process can lead to some vital points being missed.

4. Avoid Vague Language: Describe as well as possible the decisions that were made and tasks allocated in a precise manner. It is also important not to use broad terms such as ‘some’ or ‘many’ in answering the questions.

5. Don’t Ignore Sentiments or Dissent: If there were any negative views/decisions or strong emotions expressed, write these down. This provides a way of achieving a fair outlook at specific discussions or decisions.

6. Don’t Forget to Follow Up: Make sure that the action items are chased and there is a trace of them. Make sure that if additional progress updates are required in the subsequent meetings, they are recorded and made and keep the business correspondence going.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Creating minutes of meetings is a basic practice in a company, nevertheless, many people's reports don't follow the general rules, however, there are a few basic mistakes to avoid including:

• Overloading with Information: Simply put, you don’t need to capture all the details. keep your records focused and abstract.

• Lack of Structure: A document that is organized in a bad manner is sometimes difficult to read and comprehend more so when the information is complex, you can follow a template or past samples or use a previous minute document to create a general outline of how to write your meeting minutes

• Ignoring Feedback: – In case the attendees noted some errors or want to correct some issues, then it is okay to change the minutes.

If you follow the do’s and do not commit the don’ts, then you can ensure that the minutes are effective for all the parties involved. The next time you get yourself in a position of having to take minutes of a meeting, follow the practices of this article; prepare well, don’t ramble, and lastly, don’t delay in circulating the minutes.