AIBU to be terrified of taking minutes

[linda30]

I wonder if anyone else has ever struggled with this. In my organisation I am often dropped in mid-project and expected to perform support functions such as take minutes.

I feel like I am being unreasonable for fearing and resisting this task especially as my closest work colleague seems to have no problem taking minutes, and she often faces similar circumstances.

I just find that everything is happening too quickly and too chaotically for me. I don't understand how items tie together, or forget the names of people in the room. Also I can't seem to type and listen simultaniously.

I'd like to think I am not stupid, I have been complimented on my analytical ability a lot before and get good performance reviews for my systems and processes related work but meeting minutes are just beyond me and if I am honest I often just lose track of what's going on in meetings in general (even if not note taking) unless I am to speak on my area of expertise.

I feel that if some project materials were circulated beforehand or I had a chance to talk to people one on one to explain the proceedings I'd do a half decent job, but just being put there out of context and expected to take peoceedings is really scary and I feel I really suck at this. Frankly half the time I don't even understand what I am typing when taking such minutes.

I guess I am looking for tips to overcome this...

Who
Said what
in reference to whom and what
What is the action
When is the action due for

They could be talking gobbledegook but as long as you note it you don't need to understand it.

Me in new job:

Ceo : 'Oh, we need to progress the P&ID's to achieve FEL5 '

Wtaf?

Note it down. Google afterwards.

It has to be said also that some people are a bit rubbish at chairing meetings, let the discussion ramble all over the place and don’t keep to the allotted time for each item.....

I'm doing a course at the moment with other clerks. One has her little laptop on the desk typing away throughout, taking notes. It drives me up the bloody wall, I find it so hard to concentrate. Obviously it doesn't bother some people but that's another reason why I wouldn't do it in a meeting.
I would say don't be afraid to slow things down for a recap Op. If they're slinging acronyms around put a hand up and ask "are you OK with me minuting XYZ or do you want to tell me what it means for the minutes?". Also as others have said, don't hesitate to ask them to stop to let you catch up, or to confirm what the conclusion of each item is. Maybe if you do this enough they'll decide you're not the person to be minuting for them, you never know your luck! I do think that the art of producing good minutes is severely under-estimated in most organisations. It's not a job to just chuck at anyone passing, it's a skill.

I agree with what others have said- get a sign in sheet and hand write up first.
Could also be worth seeing if your company will allow a dictaphone? That way you can just type up later on with your notes and dictaphone to check details are correct.

You've got a lot of advice above about recording who said what. Just check whether that is important or relevant. In my situation it hardly ever is. I minute in general terms "governors considered that... agreed that... raised concerns about...". Who said what doesn't matter and it would be bad practice to record that as governance in schools is corporate.

Oh well, back to the bloody endless minutes I'm typing up as we speak!!

Read papers, agenda etc. before hand. If you don't know the Chair try and have some communication with them before hand.

Sign in sheet.
Brief description of any discussion, you generally don't have to say who said what unless it's relevant.
Remember as the minute taker you have the power to stop the meeting to ask for clarification, for something to be repeated, to check if something should be minuted, etc.
Keep them brief - bullet points can be very helpful.

Type them up asap.

I do minutes for a living. It's a key everyday part of my job, but it's one of the parts that I enjoy the most.

I agree, handwrite the notes, bullet points are good, then ask for clarification on any action points you are unsure of.

Again, it's not a word for word record, it's a summary of what was discussed, and what was then decided to be done by whom and by when.

you generally don't have to say who said what unless it's relevant.

By which I mean, if, for example, the finance officer says "We can't do that with the accounts" it carries more weight than if someone who has nothing to do with the finances says it.

Is your job to take the minutes? If not then talk to your manager, I'm terrible at taking minutes and have always avoided like the plague doesn't mean I'm not intelligent or good at my job though.

I'm lucky that I can state that I have a specific form of dyslexia that means I struggle to process then document auditory information at normal speeds so that statement usually stops people in their tracks and now I'm in a senior role I definitely don't take the minutes

I used to hate doing them to, but have to find something that works for you. As most of mine were relating to a particular project, I came up with a template and got it signed off by the PM so I knew they were happy with the format and the content, and it took some of the stress from knowing what to include! I always do written notes though and note the names in the table go around (sometimes need to ask people to repeat their names but hasn’t been an issue really, unless you are supposed to know ie the same people always attend). Then take brief notes and quickly type them straight after.

This all feeds into/from efficient meeting organisation (which is another art).

My goto (from Uni) was a John Cleese video from the 80s ... still as pertinent (if not more so) today as it was then.

If they ask me to take minutes the first thing that I suggest is to not bore people with 6 pages of he said, she said but to make a decisions/activities list. It's seldom more than two pages, easier to read and easier to make. Basically it says:

Date
Who was there.

We now do x, y and z.

And then a table with
Coffee machhine needs fixing- John- before 1st Feb
Ordering new laptops- Susan-before march

People don't read real minutes. I had to make them for years. I once put in that coffee and tea was now forbidden on the premises, which was a total lie, and nobody asked about it. Because nobody read it.

Explodingkitten what joy - nobody reading the minutes! Mine get published on school websites, at one of my schools there is a parent who emails straight after each meeting asking why the approved minutes haven't been published. They are also read by Ofsted.

No one reads ours either

Thank you all so much, so many fantastic responses - very useful advice. I might try hand writing. I particularly like the idea of putting "arrows" in when they change the subject, or the "notepad aproach" - one page per agenda item. It is great to know I am not the only one who really dislikea this task - some of you gave me a right chuckle (teas & coffees are forbidden or doing the notes so badly they never asked again - this has certainly gone through my mind!)

Many of you say to ask questions, but it's so scary! Today I was brave and did that but felt it was a huge annoyance to everyone (after three attempts the chair said she would send me her notes.) Some of you say to ask for introductions - even if parricipants introduce themselves they tend to just very quickly give first names (just assuming everyone knows everyhing in advance), no detail as to their role on a project or if they are even our staff (we work with external partners and consultants.) As the organisation employs 1500 people it is hard to know everyone and what they do :(

But as I said, my colleague seems to be coping well. Last 5 hour long meeting we both took notes, and while she did miss maybe a couple of items that I had, when I read her notes I was a bit like "where we even at the same meeting?" She just summarised the key discussion points so well, and actually made the conversation understandable (to me the participants could have as well been speaking Chineese most of the time - no idea re: the acronyms used, and how they progresses from one item to the next.) She is quite a bit older than me and with much more experience but I am amazed how she can just decipher completely new info as she types it up.

This type of work is not in my JD at all, but I think my manager is trying to give me and my colleague some exposure to the high profile stakeholders in the organisation without actually giving us projects to run. This is more my intuition than anything she has actually said, but I think she expects us to be seen at the high level meetings and establish connections so we potentially have projects comming our way later. That is why I am stressed about it - it is easy for the stakeholders to think "why should we let this person near any meaty pieces of work if she can't even do a discussion summary."

I agree with the person who said minute writing is a skill and should not be just randomly thrown at people. I certainly don't have this skill, and it gets me so anxious :(

Do you have sample minutes for your organisation so you can see just how detailed they need to be?

Preparation is key: I make sure I have an agenda (and spares in case Chair forgets his!) and copies of the previous meeting's minutes (a lot of time is spent rambling about what's been done since/updates). Sit next to the Chair, gives you a bit more clout if you need to ask for clarification. I take mine by hand (lets me scribble and draw arrows where they go off on tangents) and type up asap after meeting. Ideally the Chair should review them before you circulate to avoid glaring errors being pointed out at the next meeting.

And if at the next meeting someone nitpicks "I didn't say X, minute it as Y"... it happens. We're human.

Oh, and I agree with what's been said earlier: 99% of people don't even bother to read them.

When I first started doing minutes I was like a little terrified mouse you get used to it though.

I gather and print out the agenda before meeting. If the meetings heaving I send round a register to get the names.
I write out the important bits by hand, don't have no problem stopping people talking so I can catch up or clarify something and type them up straight away to make sense. Send them to the chair to check over before dishing out.

Just don't be scared of it and don't be scared to stop people or ask questions. Nobody minds.

Try to go into the meeting having some idea who will be present, what they do, and what the meeting is about. (previous minutes may also help
Most meetings start with introductions- I find it useful to draw a sketch of the table at the start and list names/initials round the table as they introduce themselves. Back up with a sign-in sheet.
Check any acronyms after the meeting.

I used to take minutes. Writing is so much easier than typing.
If anyone was to look at my notes they wouldn’t have a clue what was discussed, and neither would I if I looked back after a few days so I always used to type up the minutes straight after the meeting.
You only really need to capture any actions/decisions - you don’t need to write everything that was said. Also, use the agenda to help you write the minutes.
For example if the subject 1) ‘Birthday party’ was on the agenda. You would say something like;

Item 1. The plans for the upcoming birthday party were discussed. The date of the birthday party was agreed and will be held on 7 July 2019.

Actions: DH agreed to organise the hall and entertainer prior to the next meeting.
DS to write a list of attendees. DM to contact caterer.

List the attendees at the top of the minutes;

Dear Husband DH
Dear Son DS
Dear Mother DM

As it keeps the minutes short and to the point.

If you have time and access to your staff website, i have found printing out a pic of each person at the meeting is a good way to identify and put names to faces. Read the last meeting minutes and be aware of the order of agenda items. Agree that its a daunting prospect though and i do wonder how some of the people at these meetings would cope if they got dumped into a meeting they knew nothing about!

YES! What really gets me as well is how we are dropped into various meetings at random, with little continuity. Btw - what's up with the concept of relying on someone else to take your actions, couldn't the participants make a note themselves? :-P Especially in my case, there is no formal requirement for these minutes.

If you have a good chairperson they should always summarise each agenda item and confirm any actions to be taken forward so listen out for that as well.

It is very professional to ask for clarification and confirmation. Often it's useful as having to spell something out raises further issues. You're not a mind reader.
If individuals or groups are giving updates from their area of work, send those sections to them the next day for confirmation/correction.

I’m awful at typing minutes - I always take them by hand, then type them up. It’s much easier.