Man asked to take minutes in a meeting. I don't know whether to be impressed or irritated

[StealthPolarBear]

I was in a meeting yesterday. At the last minute a man was asked to take minutes. After the meeting he emailed out to (presumably) everyone who had provided an update on the meeting asking for a summary of what they'd said.
Is this genius, lazy, both, or just not doing his job. I do mention it was a man as women are often asked to minute and I suspect would be less likely to do this, could be wrong.

In my organisation the most junior person would be asked to take minutes, very often male trainees.

Such an email would not have impressed anyone. The trainees would quite often come in and check something they hadn't understood which was fine, but an email which appeared to shift the responsibility to people who contributed would not be appreciated.

I agree with PP. Email him back CC-ing everyone he's asked for a summary (which will hopefully include his line manager) suggesting you can add any missing detail to the minutes he's already taken.

Perfect example of strategic incompetence

It works exactly the same as Tonno describes where I work. Also mostly over the phone. My PM is currently on mat leave so I am having to take minutes as well as run the meetings. I do expect my colleagues to review and input into minutes before I finalise them. But asking everyone to retrospectively capture their notes when he had been tasked with minutes is just shit.

Well he's not doing what was asked of him. Individuals sending in their 'bits' will come from their point of view so not written objectively.

That's why someone else takes the minutes.

He must have a clue unless he's never been in a formal meeting before.

Lazy and doesn't want to do it again.

It's exactly how I did it when I was responsible for Board meeting minutes. I held dual role of Finance Director and Company Secretary. The Board meetings were confidential and we didn't have a proper secretary we could trust implicitly. So I got the job, as I was ultimately responsible as part of the legal duties of Company Secretary.

A lot of the discussions were way over my head, particularly on complex technical matters (design, manufacture and installation of cutting edge electronic connectors). If I'd just provided my random jottings of who said what about what, it wouldn't have been any use to anyone. So, I took my notes during the meeting, but asked all participants to give me their summaries of the meeting too. I then drafted minutes based on my notes, supplemented by their notes, which I circulated and invited everyone to make whatever amendments they thought were needed. Once everyone was happy, they were formally distributed.

I've seen far too many minutes which aren't even as useful as a chocolate fireguard, full of ambiguity, absence of any proper detail, etc.

Also, unless you've a recorder or can do shorthand, you probably can't write fast enough to make a proper record. If you're an actual participant, you end up concentrating too much on note making and not actually making your own contribution from your own areas of expertise.

In the absence of a proper/dedicated secretary, then I think making it a collaborative matter is the only way to do it properly.

Hmm, it's not ideal, is it.

No problem with people emailing reports of what they said - we do that in our committee meetings - but the actual "what went on during the meeting" should be noted as you go. Our current secretary isn't ideal at doing that as she tends to ignore some discussions unless I poke her to remind her to minute it - but I still send her my report via email, as do the other members who produce reports for the meeting.

Having said that, if he's never taken minutes before and it's a fair number of people, it's quite hard to do! Especially if you're not adept at listening and writing at the same time. I used to take minutes for Academic Board meetings, and they were hard to keep up with! Good practice though.

it makes no different on the sex of the person, they are trying to pull a fast one - did they know about minutes at the start of the meeting?

He was lazy. He hasn't been arsed to take any minutes and so a retrospective summary of what people think they said will do, apparently. I'd be ripping him a new one if he approached stuff like that in my team. Bone idle. Dyslexia is not an excuse either; use a dictaphone and then type up with spellchecker. Nobody minds if they're a bit late as long as they're out in time to do the actions.

If he was asked to take minutes at the last minute and isn't familiar with the process, it is quite likely he wants to ensure he hasn't missed anything. Is it usually part of his role?

I don't think sex is relevant, I do think the overall lack of organisation is!

Of course he may be an utterly lazy fucker, but of course we can't know that.

Every phone nowadays has a recorder which can be used to record the meeting for later reference if someone isn't confident with their note taking skills.

I have no idea if it's usually part of his role, I have little to do with him. The meeting wasn't hugely formal and the discussions weren't crucial, it wasn't brexit negotiations :o

if he sent out his notes with a 'please confirm this is what you said' that would be fine - however 'asking for a summary of what they'd said.' is not fine and is fucking lazy

When I have chaired meetings with an inexperienced minute taker, I have always directed them to ensure the important points are correctly noted.

I've never heard of such a thing and used to occasionally take minutes as well as participate in meetings both in work and for my then hobby.

I tend to agree with the PP who suggested he was probably being professionally incompetent in the hope of not being asked again. If I were his manager I would be having words and he would be minute taker for any future meetings until he did it properly.

This was over skype so it does tell you who is talking. It's really helpful!

Perfect example of "strategic incompetence" in action! He's hoping he won't be asked again. If I was his line manager, I'd give him a dressing down, tell him how to write minutes properly, and make sure he took the minutes for every sodding meeting for the next year.

Exactly this.

Yes think I agree