So worried…I know I’m going to struggle with this…

[ForeverAnonymous]

The team I’m in has been restructured and my job role not quite the same.

I now have to go into meetings to take the minutes, write them up then circulate them. Whilst my English is ok ish I’m dreading transcribing my ‘notes’ making them sound ok for everyone to read. I can spell ok, but putting things into a report is scaring me to death..

Any advice, Support desperately needed.
Thanks

Look up tips on YouTube for taking meeting minutes

Can you record them?

Or suggest they record all meetings via Teams and use technology😬

Could you ask permission from participants to audio record the meeting?

I know it doesn't solve the issue but I would feel better if I had the recording to refer to when I was typing it up afterwards.

Another tip which may be helpful is to divide your A4 pad into columns from left to right with headings such as
Speaking
Issue
Comments (initials of speaker)
Action

Obviously these headings can be tailored by you.

In my experience, everyone is just relieved that they weren't asked to take/type up/circulate the minutes and unless you really do miss something crucial out (unlikely) then most ppl will be happy with whatever you produce.

Good luck

Minute taking and writing up minutes is a particular skill. I'm no good at it because I zone out half way through the meeting!

Anyway- you can go on courses to learn how to do it properly. If your role has been changed you can speak to your manager about this being a new skill you need to gain and ask if you can go on a training course. If they say no, you can probably research it online.

In the meantime, I would say avoid trying to sound too 'posh' in your writing. Just be factual e.g. "The team discussed whether or not to increase the budget for biscuits. John set out a proposal for changing suppliers to get a better price on biscuits. Jane highlighted that the biscuit budget is currently underspent so an increase may not be necessary. Claire pointed out that the recent increase in staff means more biscuits will be needed going forward. Following discussion it was agreed to maintain the current budget but switch to a cheaper supplier. Action: John to take this forward."

Get hold of the reports/ minutes that were done before you were in charge of this, to get idea of style length etc., then build up a stock of standard paragraphs that you can cut and paste and edit as required, you have this, its new after a few you will find it a breeze. But be prepared for A) its possible no one will read them or B) some people will just have to have input - ask too many people for input and you will get conflicting opinions, generally people want this sort of report very short with clear action pointers as in x person to do Y, they don't want to read pages to find out what they know already so important facts like dates need to stick out.

Definitely get training on minute taking if you possibly can. It’s not easy and it isn’t fair to expect someone to just do it without training or experience.
Don’t try to capture everything that everyone said, that results in long messy minutes with lots of he said then she said. Summarise each point and state the action.
Are there examples of past minutes you can use as a model? Or minutes from similar meetings? Or is there a template for the format? Where I work there are defined formats that you have to use.

I only wish I could record them! Unfortunately not.

Thanks for all your responses, I will google for help too.

I really hope I don’t zone out as I know what I’m like.

Definitely ask for examples of well taken minutes for your company. In my industry it’s actions and decisions so Topic: Biscuits Action: John to investigate options for cheaper biscuit supplier

Can you enlist some allies for your first few meetings to help call out summaries of discussion points/identify actions if things get a bit waffly? You’ll quickly build confidence I’m sure.

Can't you get a dictaphone thing to record the meeting?

i think you should ask for training and support - it’s a new aspect of your job and you want to do it properly, asking for help will not make you look bad.

As it's a new aspect of your role, it's a great idea to ask for some guidance.

Rather than going in just asking 'what do you expect of me', though, I'd suggest putting together a template for how you plan to distribute the notes and ask for feedback on that - it looks far more proactive and even if the structure you suggest isn't what your manager wants, the fact that you have one at all shows initiative.

www.resourcecentre.org.uk/information/taking-minutes/

Minute taking is a specific skill, it needs to be done in a particular way [passive voice] and if it needs doing properly then you really need training on it.

Have you got a colleague who would be able to check the notes over before you circulate?

I've recently been asked to take the minutes down from recorded meetings, I receive the video after, so a completely different kettle of fish.

I know its only a matter of time until I'm asked to do them in person. I've practically avoided them completely for over 20 years, at interview I normally tell them its the one thing I don't do and they are normally fine.

I don't mind typing up someone elses and distributing them, but I don't take them so I know how you feel OP.

Once I was asked to do them and the manager told me what bits to write down and they waited, will your people help you out a bit at first or is it very formal?

Minute taking is a skill. It is also extremely undervalued and people seem to think anyone can do it.
Definitely ask for training. Also take the initiative and set the scene at the beginning of the meeting by putting the onus on the attendees to flag up important points. Get them to direct you to note the actions throughout the meeting. This also focusses the attendees to be clear and actually agree to do things in a meeting so it makes the meetings more efficient and effective.

1. as other posters have said, lots of stuff on you tube and minute taking courses to be had, so go for it, will save you lots of trouble, it’s really boring learning from trial and error

2. is the reason they won’t record them for legal or they just aren’t used to the idea? If it’s not actually banned, definitely get a dictaphone. If by happy chance the meetings are done on Teams, ask the Chair to let the group know the meeting will be recorded (unless any specific objections) and hit the button!! You can also download a transcript and the attendance- win win! At my work, it’s all on Teams now since COVID and record as standard. Minute takers don’t even need to be there on the day, just pick up the recording next time they are available.

3. stuff I find useful: use the agenda as a template, under the item title make yourself a mini-template with the following headings:

a)intro ( 1or 2 sentences only) who spoke, what paper, roughly what they spoke about. assume everyone heard the same thing as you. If it’s a presentation, everyone saw it and probably had it in the meeting papers too)
b)comments or discussion from the group after the person said their bit, can either be he said she said if they are into that, or a brief summary of the whole discussion. The main thing is to pick up any new questions or new relevant intel. I find it really useful to use bullet point setting for this bit
c) decision - any conclusions or decision that was agreed by the group
d) action ( who it was for, what it was, any deadline for it)
an action log can be really handy here. Then you can just check through it and any updates go in there instead of in prose 😁

If you have access, it’s worth your time to check through the previous minutes and actions and see what might be coming up, anything unresolved which needed an answer in this meeting. You might be able to roughly map out the minutes for some items and just fill in the gaps.

If they are amenable, get the Chair on side by approaching them in advance of the meeting, talk through the agenda: what they want to get out of the meeting, what they feel is important to record and, most useful, what is not. That way you know what you can leave out. It’s bloody exhausting writing everything. Also, you can ask them to make it clear during the meeting if there’s an action or decision, summarise the board’s position on an item at the end of each one. It’s for their benefit if they want good minutes!

good luck OP!

Sorry OP just saw you can’t record. That’s rubbish!!

Obviously Spellcheck everything and send to Chair or well-placed colleague for the once-over before they go out.

Another tip which may be helpful is to divide your A4 pad into columns from left to right with headings such as
Speaking
Issue
Comments (initials of speaker)
Action

@SurelyNot22 thankyou so much for this tip!

I have to take minutes a lot and it is a massive pain in the arse writing them up but this will make it miles easier! I will adopt this method immediately

I always type out what's being said (I can type very quickly). I save that for my records.

Then I sift through and reduce what I have to the usual format of the minutes.

I would refuse to do it.

I'd use Grammarly rather than spellcheck - it picks up more typos.

I am not saying this is the case with you op as I don’t t know your situation, but I think a lot of managers get someone to write up the minutes who doesn’t have an in-depth knowledge of the department, or who are too junior to fully appreciate all the ramifications, so they don’t understand the nuances, particularly if the meeting is in English, and then the minute-taker ends up missing the important things and includes things that aren’t relevant. Or they have to spend lots of unnecessary stressful hours afterwards running around asking A what B was about.

I know that’s not a very helpful thing to say op when you are already nervous, and it doesn’t always apply in the case of straightforward action minutes, but I am mentioning it to back up the view of pps, that you are entitled to ask for training with this.

Like others said it is a skill
I am surprised about not being allowed to record, I am a senior leader in health and most things are recorded, minutes written up and the recording of the meeting destroyed for some meetings
Securely filed for others

This includes the serious incident review committee meeting. We have policies to back it up (not in the UK).

I am very fortunate to have a PA that I share with 3 other people, however my manager group that reports to me wanted to go back to F2F meetings which is fine but no one can find the Dictaphone after 3 years of virtual meetings so I have to do my own minutes until the new one arrives as the meeting clashes with a meeting my boss chairs who also shares the PA. I spent this afternoon ringing surgical consultants and heads of units about complex discharges rather than write notes.....and surgeon HOU are egotistical to say the least 🙃

Get some templates and some training before going to do it on your own.
If they really won't let you record the meetings then block time out in your diary to write them up straight after so you have your memories as well as notes to rely on. Nothing I hate more than minutes coming out the day before the monthly meeting....it's too long that I have forgotten what was said.

There is a transcribe option on Teams :)

I only found this recently and I've worked with Teams for years!

It's near the video option, but says transcribe instead.

Makes note taking much easier.