How to Take Minutes at a Business Meeting

Business meetings may be conducted formally or informally, depending on the company and the circumstances. Taking good minutes during a business meeting can be a crucial time and headache saver and it's a skill that is greatly appreciated by employers. The following guidelines are based on Robert's Rules of Order.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Portable Tape Recorders
• Blank Tapes
• Notebook Papers
• Computers

Taking Minutes

1. Obtain the meeting agenda, minutes from the last meeting, and any background documents to be discussed. Consider using a tape recorder to ensure accuracy.

2. Sit beside the chairperson for convenient clarification or help as the meeting proceeds.

3. Write "Minutes of the meeting of (exact association name)."

4. Record the date, time and place of the meeting.

5. Circulate a sheet of paper for attendees to sign. (This sheet can also help identify speakers by seating arrangement later in the meeting.) If the meeting is an open one, write down only the names of the attendees who have voting rights.

6. Note who arrives late or leaves early so that these people can be briefed on what they missed.

7. Write down items in the order in which they are discussed. If item 8 on the agenda is discussed before item 2, keep the old item number but write item 8 in second place.

8. Record the motions made and the names of people who originate them.

9. Record whether motions are adopted or rejected, how the vote is taken (by show of hands, voice or other method) and whether the vote is unanimous. For small meetings, write the names of the attendees who approve, oppose and abstain from each motion.

10. Focus on recording actions taken by the group. Avoid writing down the details of each discussion.

Transcribing Minutes

11. Transcribe minutes soon after the meeting, when your memory of the event is still fresh.

12. Follow the format used in previous minutes.

13. Preface resolutions with "RESOLVED, THAT..."

14. Consider attaching long resolutions, reports or other supplementary material to the minutes as an appendix.

15. Write "Submitted by" and then sign your name and the date.

16. Place minutes chronologically in a record book.

Tips & Warnings

• Write in a concise, accurate manner, taking care not to include any sort of subjective opinion.
• No matter what type of minutes you take, focus on capturing and communicating all important actions that took place.

Who Can Help:

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[daddy610]

on 5/6/2008 pretty swazzee hommie kinda tuff!!!!!!

[sieveboat]

on 4/28/2008 Great post. I agree that action items need to be clearly marked. There are plenty of meeting softwares that help you do this automatically.

Here is a link of a software we use. http://www.meetingsense.com

[Haymes]

on 1/17/2008 One point i learned when i did a course was that attendees names need not be included in the minutes unless there is a specific reason.

[msazeez28july]

on 12/10/2007 This is an excellent article which is not standardized in the industry. People may take the initiative to follow the same format will lessr changes across all Formal meetings

[andybelfast]

on 7/5/2007 Minutes are a historical record and should be written in the past tense.

Minutes should be written in the third person.

Ask the Chair to brief you on the subject matter before the meeting. Also ask for a list of relevant terms and abbreviations and learn them before the meeting.