Useless at taking meeting minutes...can anyone give me tips please?

[MyCatHatesEverybody]

I recently started a job where a small part of it involves taking meeting minutes and I'm crap at it. It's like my brain (let alone my handwriting) can't keep up with what's being said so by the time I've processed the info to write it down I've missed the next part of the conversation and so it snowballs. The meetings involve numbers and technical talk so I can't just jot down a general idea of what's being said, I need to write down specific figures and what they relate to. If I asked them to repeat stuff I'd be interrupting them literally every other sentence.

I've got away with it up till now because they've been on Zoom so I can play back the recording and write everything up at my leisure but we're back in the office now so they'll be face-to-face and unrecordable.

Help...I literally feel sick with anxiety about how to cope without looking useless at my job

Why cant the meeting be recorded then you can audio type them up or can you type directly onto the computer. Tell your boss it's more accurate and saves time as you dont have to write it all out first then retype it. You can save time by having a template for the heading, attendance, apologies, agenda and initials of those attendance and what to action.

I have the agenda on my lap top and make space underneath each agenda item. Type directly onto the agenda during the meeting and it takes only a few minutes to tidy it up ready for sending out after the meeting.

Part of it is listening for key points (ask a colleague about what they are aiming to do / decide at the meeting, read the agenda and papers, think about it ahead of the meeting) and partly it’s typing speed (there are online games to help you speed up). But mostly it’s practice, and familiarity with the content. If you’re really worried, can you ask a colleague to note key figures, so that you have a cross-check afterwards? That looks like you being thorough, and thinking ahead.

I sympathise completely! I used to have to do handwritten minutes, and was really bad at it, like you I couldn't write and listen at the same time, and afterwards I had trouble reading my own writing.

What helped massively was taking a laptop or ipad with keyboard into the meeting and typing the minutes directly - I can type much faster than I can write, and it made life so much easier. Plus I only had to edit them slightly before I sent them out, not type them up from scratch. Of course you do have to be able to touch type to do this, but if you can I'd recommend it. And if you can't, it's well worth learning....

I always asked for simply action points and decisions to be noted under each agenda point. Not any of the he said, she said stuff in between, except for maybe "there was some discussion before it was agreed" etc

Use Otter (go to www.Otter.ai)

Then you'll have a transcript you can copy and paste from as well as a voice recording to go back to and confirm exactly what was said.

600 mins per month free

I have to take minutes at a weekly meeting where the actual content is completely over my head and they all speak in acronyms. I type as fast as I can whilst they are talking and tbh it all looks like nonsense as I can't touch type but it's enough that i can translate it and tidy it up afterwards, I sort of type half the word until it gets to an important bit/acronym/figure then make sure I get that bit down! My team are very nice though and usually at the point they ask if anyone has any questions I just ask them to clarify anything I feel is important that I'm not sure I noted correctly. I also highlight in bold as soon as it sounds like an action is being given so I can easily see it when they say "choccy what actions have you got from that last bit?" The structure of the meeting is the same each week so like others have said I have the headings written down already and the attendees. Not sure if any of that is helpful but I couldn't do it handwritten, you need to take a laptop in.

You should be able to record the call for minutes. I've worked for big banks where I could record the meeting, you just had to ensure it was deleted within a timeframe.

Take a record of decisions and at the end of each agenda item, read back the decisions that were made. Minutes are too long IMO... I understand this might be impossible!

What a pp said, have agenda visible and make notes on each point discussed.

Do you know who everyone at the meeting is? Make sure you do. Use initials next to the notes so you know who said what.

A biggie for me - draw a plan of who was sitting where. So you'd have for example : AH, EF, DB, FL, CN, etc and where they were on the table. It helps you remember who said what.

Don't be shy to email people afterwards asking for 'clarification' on what was said (don't do it in the meeting, it looks unprofessional). People love talking about their point of view!

Think about who is around the table and what they need to remember from the meeting, or what needs to be on record as being decided at the meeting, both as a legal record and for members of the group who couldn't make it.

Ask the chair to make a point of saying "can we make sure that is in the minutes?" or "can we note that as an action?" for any key bits until you have the hang of what needs to go in and what is just chat. Have some short phrases pre-prepared to help you summarise discussion.

Look back at previous minutes (before you had the task) to see style, how much detail is included etc. Read or at least skim through the meeting papers beforehand. Practice touch typing and increase your speed as much as possible - I've been able to do this since my PA days and it's an incredibly useful skill. I can have a Teams call with someone, type almost a transcript that I just need to tidy up while keeping a whole conversation going because the typing part is just muscle memory - I still manage around 100wpm and I don't even think about it.

Also agree with having the agenda open and typing directly under each heading.

Give the chair a heads up that you're new to taking minutes and would appreciate if they would make very clear any actions agreed and their owners.

Ask if there's a list of common acronyms. Every company has its own but there are also many that are common to a particular industry. If there isn't, start compiling one for your own use.

When you've been to the same meeting a few times you get to know what the hell they're all banging on about

I've learnt that it pays to understand why the Minutes are required, and then tailor them accordingly. So I have one meeting where full minutes are required as they may be subject to a subsequent FOI enquiry - that meeting I record, and the minutes are very detailed as to who said what. I have one meeting where I compile the slidepack beforehand, those 'minutes' are actually described as 'notes in support of the slides' and I only record material that isn't on the slide and any discussion; and I have a third meeting where the Action Points are the most important, so that meeting doesn't get any actual 'minutes' at all, just Actions.

Most of my meetings are still on Teams so it's easy to record, facilitate the meeting, and then still write the Minutes afterwards. When we go back to in-room meetings, I'm going to plead "habit" and say that I still need to record the meeting because that has become my method of working.

Minute taking is a serious skill. Does your employer offer training? If not could you find an external training course and ask to go?

I’m a Board Clerk and the best piece of advice I have is to make sure you record the decision - everything else you can find out afterwards. Are your agendas dispatched with relevant reports attached? If so, take the information out of them, which should include the recommendation.
Once you’ve finished your minutes take each section and email it for approval by the person who delivered the report - that way any errors can be corrected before it goes to the Chair.

What information is provided prior to the meeting? Is there scope to increase this. People won’t be coming to the meeting without prior knowledge - so it could be more efficient to record the numbers beforehand.

If there are any papers or documents that have all these numbers or data in, then just refer to the document, don't write the whole thing out. Ask for hard copies of papers up front that you can scribble on. Try to summarise discussions, not type out verbatim. When you start to feel brave you can ask them to please repeat for the minutes or please clarify the action point. It's worth chatting with the chair and asking them to work with you by emphasising key points etc.

I’ve had lots of minute taking jobs (think very important statutory meetings) . As others have said I wouldn’t be able to take hand written minutes and type onto a laptop. My notes don’t make any sense and I would cringe if anyone saw them before I tided them up, but I type everything they say then can omit the bits that don’t need to be included in the formal minutes. As others have said type straight onto the agenda or document if there is one so you know things are going in the right place and also ask for clarification…I still do this if I’m not sure, and I’ve been in my job for 5 years with great feedback. In my experience people would much rather I asked even if it meant interrupting, than was unsure and missed something. It does get easier as well, I think the idea of minuting can be very daunting but once I got into the swing of it I actually found it very easy :)

Watching with interest as this is an area I really struggle with, I agree with others that it gets easier in time with understanding subjects etc. I found that difficult at first so would miss this as I'm trying to decifer what they are on about!
I just don't always see what's relevant to write down, sometimes I'll write loads and after I wonder if it was relevant then I probably miss stuff that was important
More tips please!!

It helps if you prepare a draft minutes template prior to the meeting.

Add all the information you know beforehand, date, time, attendees, apologies, etc. Edit this once you're in the meeting - add additional attendees and note if someone didn't attend.

Structure the template as per the agenda, and leave space to record the discussion for each item. If you have papers distributed prior to the meeting then record the decision. If the forum decides any different you can update this as "did not" rather than "did". If there is an action, make sure you are clear who was assigned the action.

Try to shorten words so for example John Smith becomes JS (but make sure you know who JS is if more than one!), year end becomes YE, greater than becomes > , two million pounds becomes £2m. Make up your own shorthand.

Minute taking is an art and gets better with practice.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Unfortunately I can't touch type, I've tried learning via online tutorials etc but just can't seem to get the hang of it.

The minutes are pretty detailed, all he said she said. I already have the agenda headings on my pad to write the relevant bits underneath but the discussion often goes off in different directions because they'll start referring to previous meetings/discussions I've not been privy to.

I think the main problem is unless I already have a good understanding of the topics of discussion my brain simply can't process what's being said fast enough to translate it into usable notes. I'm reassured that it doesn't seem as though I'll be met with "good grief she's useless" if I say I still need to record the meetings so I'll speak to my manager to explain my needs and go from there.

I think it's a lot to do with the fact that you're new and don't know the subject. You'll improve as you get used to it.
I don't think a generic minute-taking course would help that much.

I tend to get quite good feedback on my minutes, this is what I find helps me:

• follow the papers as the presenter is talking. If they are reading more or less verbatim from the papers, don't try to copy it all down, just make a note of it and then refer back to the papers when you are typing up.

-if there is discussion between 2 or more people, write it point by point like a script. E.g. my notes often look like this:

 Jb - blah blah blah 
 CW - ? why blah blah 
  KL ? What about blah 
 Jb - blah blah blah
  CW - blah blah 
  Jb blah blah blah 

^ This is quite important for the type of meetings that I minute, as if an attendee is challenging or questioning something, that needs to be explicit incase they need to disclose it to a regulator.
-if you miss something or are unsure, ask for clarification in the meeting, or if that's not appropriate, contact the person afterwards before circulating the minutes.
-write alot and then edit afterwards. Perhaps not the most efficient, but I find it alot easier to start with almost verbatim comments and then trim it right down

I would try to persevere with learning to touch type as it makes it so much easier . As others have said you can use agenda headings and type your notes directly below .

1.Circulate the minutes to someone before circulating them more widely so you can basically get them to tell you if you've missed anything.

1. Read any papers before the meeting and the minutes of the last meeting so you've very familiar with what is being talked about.