Stressed beyond belief…

[BlueHats]

I’m not sure how to start but I’ve been told that on top of my job (admin assistant) I will also be required to help with minuting for a protection team. I’ve never minuted before and don’t feel I’ve the right skills.

Another reason for this is because I’ve been struggling with muscle spasms on one side of my body. I have been booked in for an MRI in 2 weeks time.

My Office Supervisor is aware of this but no one else is. I’m currently WFH and when I’m required to minute for the Protection team I believe it will be face to face.

Where do I stand with this? The spasms happen at least once a week but at home I can cope.

your line manager needs to support you into the role

ask to see previous Minutes so you can use the same format as before

check what needs to be capture - depending what is needed, you may only need to capture actions and decisions not verbatim notes

ask if they can signal to you in the meeting what needs to be noted. Most people are reasonable and supportive like that.

Sorry to hear about your health problems, i truly know how it cab effect everything.

I have taken minutes a lot in various admin roles. I hate it - with a passion. The worst was when the Chair had a very strong French accent and I couldn't understand a word he said.

My practical advice is do a course as it will help. Also, ask how to do it or look back at past meeting minutes. Perhaps you could take your phone in and do an audio recording. In my experience most companies are just grateful someone is there to do it. If you didn't hear something ask people to repeat. When you have typed up the minutes send them to the Chair for their input. If you do a terrible job perhaps they'll never ask you again?!!

IME it was always a task for an EA, PA or Senior Admin person to take minutes because not everyone can produce accurate minutes. There is the assumption that it is a basic 'easy' job. It's not! I used to minute lots of corporate high level meetings and bloody hated it. It was my least favourite part of the job and I ended up avoiding jobs where it was a key requirement.

Op, in your position, I would do this:

Re-iterate to your manager about your health concerns.

Tell him/her that you are nervous about the task but will give it a go.
Ask to see the previous meeting minutes (last three at least) to get a feel for the format and whether they are full minutes or just action points
Mug up on how to do it beforehand (lots of videos on YouTube)
Ask to record the meeting (perfectly okay to do this in most organisations now and you can do it on MS Teams or on your phone)
Take your laptop into the meeting and type directly onto a Word doc - you can add the agenda items as headers before you start if it helps
Have a list of attendees ready and tick them off like a register
During the meeting, type everything as it's said whether you think it is relevant or not
Get the minutes typed up as soon as possible after while things are fresh in your mind
Ask someone senior (who was in the meeting) to check and confirm them before you circulate them

I think the key is to break the process down and not overthink it. The first time you do something is always the hardest but please give it a go. You might actually surprise yourself!