to hate doing minutes of a meeting

[CaptSkippy]

Last week, due to the absence of a person who usually does the minutes, I was asked two minutes for before a meeting started to do minutes.

I hate doing minutes. I can't keep an accurate record of a meeting and participate in it at the same time. People also talk too quickly for me to take notes of all that was said. The end result is that I always end up with scores of complaints any time I have taken minutes. It also takes me a really long time to write them up afterwards and if things are busy with my main responsibilities people keep pestering me for them when I really have no time to write it all out and share them.

These days I make sure that minutes are not part of my job repsonsibilities anymore and I refuse to even consider a job where that is a requirement.

I told the person who asked that I am no good at doing minutes, that I never end up with anything useful and that I only jot down a few things for myself. Despite my telling him this, he came back later and asked me what I got. I got all of two lines of the two hours meeting. I hope his own notes were more useful, but I never agreed to do them.

So was I being unreasonable?

I used to be a PA, and one my roles was very heavily minute taking focused (they didn't tell me that at the interview!). It was all clinical/medical stuff as well... I used to churn them out, several meetings a week, but still hated it. However, it made me pretty good at noting the salient points, even though I didn't always understand them!

Would be pretty annoyed to be dropped in it at the last minute though. It's not something that can be picked up just by being flung into it (people like to think minute taking is easy "anyone can do it - just note the key points" but a specialised skill at the same time (ie, they don't want to do it)). Plus, yes, it always seems to be women who are "volunteered"

I'm a senior secretary and looooathe minute taking but they certainly aren't 'hard'. Like a PP said, you don't write them up word for word, you just pick out the key points such as ' NP gave presentation (attached) and discussion followed. Outcome was decided that......

I also record them so anyone who didn't attend the meeting can view it, and I can remind myself of any bits I missed.

Not your job, you didn't agree to do it and if he wanted minuted he should have done them himself, you were asked because your female, he probably wanted you to bring him coffee while you're there too. Don't back down, tell him a straight no if asked again, offer to send him the template a pp suggested.

And don't even get me started on my current role where I am supposed to both chair my meetings and take the minutes...

@JudgeRindersMinder

I was banned from minute taking in a previous job because ai wrote them up with a heavily sarcastic tone

I like that, but I think next time I'll just give them a clear no. I think I have been unreasonable because I did not outright refuse as I should have done.

I take minutes as a part of my role, it's technical based and half the time I have no idea what they're talking about, but it must work as I'm now minute taker for lots of meetings 😂

Did you actually say outright I won't be taking minutes as I'm not good at them, or just I'm not good. Because if it's the latter it sounds as though you're agreeing to but warning they won't be verbatim.

I'd argue if there was only 2 lines in a 2 hour meeting then was it worth your time being there?

If you were asked because you're a woman that puts a whole different spin on things.

Record the meeting
Upload for everyone to view

I always focus on what actions were agreed rather than minutiae of discussion. I actually quite like taking minutes as you can massage the message a bit to focus on what you think is important and also make sure actions you want others to take are set out in the way you want them.

If you’re one of only two women it sounds like he asked you because you’re female.

Well done not doing it.

@chatw0o0

I used to be a PA, and one my roles was very heavily minute taking focused (they didn't tell me that at the interview!). It was all clinical/medical stuff as well... I used to churn them out, several meetings a week, but still hated it. However, it made me pretty good at noting the salient points, even though I didn't always understand them!

Would be pretty annoyed to be dropped in it at the last minute though. It's not something that can be picked up just by being flung into it (people like to think minute taking is easy "anyone can do it - just note the key points" but a specialised skill at the same time (ie, they don't want to do it)). Plus, yes, it always seems to be women who are "volunteered"

That's exactly how I feel. If it were that easy this guy would be doing them himself and not ask anyone else. My role is purely technical. He knows that. That's where my expertise lies. I am a problem solver. I really hated the whole situation.

@Hercisback

I'd argue if there was only 2 lines in a 2 hour meeting then was it worth your time being there?

If you were asked because you're a woman that puts a whole different spin on things.

It definitely wasn't worth my time. The project has been running for months. My boss insists I sit in on these meeting. They take up the whole morning every two weeks. It drives me batty. Why have meetings for the sakle of having meetings?

I HATE minutes with a passion, but unfortunately I never seem to be able to get a job that doesn't require doing them. I'm currently going through an ADHD diagnosis so am hoping I'll be able to get some sort of reasonable adjustment for them, even if just using a dictaphone (we don't seem to be allowed to record for some reason). Meetings make me so anxious

God I hated this. One of my duties was to organise team meetings (30 people). I’d get the dates in well in advance then as diaries filled up other things would take priority and people dropped out I would get flak for arranging such an inconvenient date. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday mornings were out for business/operational reasons, A few people didn’t work Fridays or worked from home (this was pre zoom). Mondays were weekly catch up days. I also had to find a guest speaker (someone from another team to talk about their work) which people were not that keen to do, and get someone to cover our phones while we were in the meeting (again people weren’t keen). And we had a rotating chair system so that people could get used to chairing in a “safe environment” (everyone was supposed to take a turn) and again people weren’t keen, or at the last minute said they couldn’t’ attend the meeting as they were interviewing or sifting or something. And I had to take the minutes. It was an absolute nightmare. Thank god I retired.

The rule of thumb where I work is that, in the absence of a minute taker whose sole job that is, whoever is otherwise least involved in the meeting takes the minutes. If that was you in this case, then fair enough, but if not, he should have asked that person instead.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

I don't love doing them but they're not hard.

It's minutes not a transcript, it just needs to capture the talking points and agreed actions so my basic format is

Date:
Time:

Attendees:
Apologies:

Agenda: - copied from calendar invite or take a photo/screen print of the slide deck

Actions and agreements (formatted as a table)

Summary. Action/agreement. Owner. Due date.

Jack hates Jill. Action: Mediation session. Joan. 15th April
Date of dinner. Agreement: next Sunday. Jill. 15th April

The thing is, minute taking is a real skill (and one I took years to learn). You need to understand what is going on and what is required. The chair CANNOT take the minutes (it’s amazing how often it’s assumed they will) nor can the person doing all the technical presenting. It’s outrageous to ask someone to do them two minutes before the meeting starts.

I like HalfShrunk’s format. I can’t bear minutes that are a wall of text. They also shouldn’t be too long - I do them in landscape but that largely depends on your organisation (some have a specific format for minutes).

Minutes should be provided within two business days of the meeting - otherwise they’re pointless make-work.

Can you address that as one of only two women in the department, you were asked to do minutes with only two minutes’ notice? That isn’t cool and is a habit that needs breaking.

I used to take minutes as a large part of my self employment - clerk to school governors. It's a skill, and some people really struggle with it.
You aren't unreasonable because you didn't agree to take these minutes, so it was perfectly fine to come away from the meeting with a brief note that was relevant to you.
Minutes aren't one size fits all - minutes for an internal team meeting are very different, and much easier, than minuting something like a governors meeting where they have to be much more detailed.

Sounds like you need to try to stick to your guns and refuse to do them. If you get ordered to then I suggest that you concentrate on just making a note of what was agreed at the end of each item discussed. Who cares what was said and who said it? In an internal meeting the important thing is what was agreed at the end of it all. Then if they don't like that approach they know what to do.

This happens to me all the time, I just note actions and decisions, attendance and apologies.

yanbu but when I used to do minutes (and I often ran the meeting too) I used to keep in mind the saying "who controls the minutes controls the meeting". Its AMAZING what you can do in the way of slanting minutes on the way you want them and "failing" to minute stuff that won't be helpful....but then I am a sly old witch. Its also worth being asserive if you want discussion to stop or slow down so that you can stay with the flow and also so that you can make your own contribution.

You got two lines for a two hour meeting? That is strange, even writing by hand you should be able to jot down more than that. I have to regularly chair meetings and take minutes, laptop is the way to go and tidy up after.

I hate them and it’s certainly not my job but with high sickness levels there’s a chance I’ll be asked. My male colleagues in the company Secretary’s office usually do them as stand by but our pas refuse, which is mad as we’ve had a guy doing minutes of a meeting he’s trying to chair, which is really hard to do.

I have to take minuets too and I hate it , a lot of our meetings are on teams so it is hard to decipher everything if they are all talking at the same time .

Next time first as PP said when you are asked say no as you have too many points to bring up / want a more interactive role etc , then firmly say can we clarify who will be taking the minuets so I can send my points to raise over.

If somehow you still get pushed into it ,
Make sure you know who will be attending and write their full names down, email / talk to everyone first ask them what they will be bringing up and make a note of it and leave space to then fill in the response from others in the meeting .
Then using just their initials fill in who is bringing what up

so as PP said

reason for meeting new product
date/ time 26/02/23
Attending John Davies , Sara smith, Paul Jones , Joe Bloggs , Dean Smith .

SS wants us to start using this new product be cause it is evnviro friendly
space for response ......
JD said its to expensive
PJ said its comparable to costs now
SS will come back with costs break down on 04/04/23

JB said we should be loyal to current provides

And so on ,

And while I certainly advocate using your phone to record the meeting , make sure you are allowed to first ( privacy / security / nondisclosure etc) dont rely on it all together , even the best phone will miss some bits and as happened to me , my phone ran out of space without me realising and I missed the last 15 mins of the meeting when all the decisions were finalised !

Then when sending it out use a word doc table
Initial - point - by date - follow up by

@NewYearCalavicci

I have to take minuets too and I hate it , a lot of our meetings are on teams so it is hard to decipher everything if they are all talking at the same time .

Next time first as PP said when you are asked say no as you have too many points to bring up / want a more interactive role etc , then firmly say can we clarify who will be taking the minuets so I can send my points to raise over.

If somehow you still get pushed into it ,
Make sure you know who will be attending and write their full names down, email / talk to everyone first ask them what they will be bringing up and make a note of it and leave space to then fill in the response from others in the meeting .
Then using just their initials fill in who is bringing what up

so as PP said

reason for meeting new product
date/ time 26/02/23
Attending John Davies , Sara smith, Paul Jones , Joe Bloggs , Dean Smith .

SS wants us to start using this new product be cause it is evnviro friendly
space for response ......
JD said its to expensive
PJ said its comparable to costs now
SS will come back with costs break down on 04/04/23

JB said we should be loyal to current provides

And so on ,

And while I certainly advocate using your phone to record the meeting , make sure you are allowed to first ( privacy / security / nondisclosure etc) dont rely on it all together , even the best phone will miss some bits and as happened to me , my phone ran out of space without me realising and I missed the last 15 mins of the meeting when all the decisions were finalised !

Then when sending it out use a word doc table
Initial - point - by date - follow up by

Teams has a transcription tool so if you set it up it will transcribe everything said by everyone and the provide it at the end

techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/live-transcription-with-speaker-attribution-now-available-in/ba-p/2228817

Accurate minute taking is a skill, and I think it’s both unfair and remiss of a manager or project leader to ask it of somebody who doesn’t have that skill / hasn’t had the opportunity to develop the experience.

I’m a company secretary. I love taking minutes and the whole process which follows. I get paid an awful lot of money to do it. It isn’t just taking notes of what happened in the meeting, but I suspect that that view of it is what leads some managers to ask it of people who don’t know how to do it and hate doing it.