If you are responsible for taking minutes at meetings, then the tools and techniques covered in this course will prove invaluable.
Introduction
- Background
- Cycle of a meeting
- The participants
Personal Preparation
- Read the agenda and papers
- Talk to the chairperson and others
- Consider who's who
- Confirm administrative arrangements
- Get the equipment together
- Signed copy of the minutes
- Last minute minute taker
- Personal preparation checklist
Create the Right Environment
- Create a professional impression
- Freshen the room
- Layout and refreshments
- Be there to greet
- Mobile phones and pagers
Attending the Meeting
- Where to sit
- Finding out who's who
- Not understanding
- Hearing
- Minuting and argument
- Skivvying
- Coping with numbers/figures
- Maintaining concentration and focus
- Contributing minute taker
Taking Notes
- The mechanics of writing
- Taking notes
- Look as well as listen
- The message not the words
- Developing the skills
Structuring Notes
- Follow the agenda
- Structuring the notes
- Using the structure
Writing up the Minutes
- Speeding up the process
- If you can't type them for a few days
- Get the chairperson's approval
- Dealing with amendments
Style of Minutes
Sections of a Meeting
- Introduction/welcome, apologies
- Committee business
- Minutes of the last meeting
- Matters arising, reports
- Agenda items, any other business
- Date of the next meeting
Recording Decisions and Actions
- The action triangle
- Where there is no outcome
- Layout of action points
- Where there are several action points
Layout
- Page layout and headings
- Layout for 'present' etc
- Numbering
Business English for Minutes
- Vocabulary and spelling
- Abbreviations
- Punctuation
- Hyphens
- Exclamation marks
The course runs from 9:30am through to 4:30pm.
You will learn in a relaxed environment with a small group of people. A specialist tutor will guide and encourage you through all the learning necessary to develop your skills and questions are always welcome.
Included with your course
We provide the following with online and training centre delivered courses.
- Course notes
- Certificate of attendance
Online Delivery
A link to the online training platform will be sent before the course, simply click the link and follow the instructions.
- See Virtual / Remote training information for more details
- Contact us if you'd like to test the platform before the morning of the course
- You can be located anywhere in the world with an internet connection and your computer
Our Training Centres
For training courses run at one of our training centres we include.
- Free onsite parking
- Lunch and refreshments
- Notepad, pen and Polos
Our Norwich on-site parking (NR3 1UB) is free and situated 5 minutes walk along the river to our training centre at St James Mill. If you arrive by train it is about 20 minutes on the Riverside walk or a short taxi ride to get to us. View full directions for Norwich and all our other venues.