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

Where I've worked previously, it's been customary to send draft minutes to the meeting's chair for approval. So you should be able to get their feedback before you send the final minutes out. It can be a really useful skill to have, so well worth learning.

I would say - don't do it like that. Don't think you have to record the conversation word by word, that would take you forever! All you need is a brief summary of the discussion and what was decided plus which has the action point.

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.

This is a good point, always wite them up immediately and aim to have them out within 5-7 days of the meeting taking place.

I take minutes at work and for a voluntary organisation. I always send them to the chair for review before circulating. If your chair is time pressed, or disorganised, add a date for feedback.

No worries @ihavespoken
I'm all for anything that makes a dull task easier to complete!
Had a total nightmare of an ex ceo who loved to pick one of us at random to take minutes. She wouldn't tell us in advance, would just point at someone as the meeting started. We all dreaded being chosen!

Minutes should be concise and serve purpose.

Writing paragraphs about info discussed is useless. It should be actions and outcomes. So the meeting starts by going through last meetings actions and you mark them done/in progress/outstanding. Then you all go through the agenda and only the new actions which arise need adding to the minutes.

Which then becomes the actions for people to work on between meetings and forms the basis for next weeks meeting.

I hate seeing minutes where they note all the updates on facts and figures - especially when these are already typed up in a report which could just be linked to the doc.

I’m my minute taking days I quite often checked as I went “so
i’m minuting that the decision is x, is that correct?” Or if things were going off piste “before we move on, how would you like me to
minute this, is there an action?”

Hello @ForeverAnonymous , I am exactly in the same position as you albeit in a new job and I'm dreading when I'm asked to take minutes. I agree with others that it really is a skill to learn. I've done several online courses but none of them have helped - I think experience and practice will be key but I'd far rather not write down lots of rambling and in the midst of doing so miss out the important stuff. I found this YouTube clip really helpful;

Let me know how you get on, you're not alone.😀