How to Record Accurate Minutes at a Meeting
Meeting minutes are nothing more than an official record of who attended a meeting and what was discussed. If you have been assigned the task of minute taker, then your first priority should be recording accurate minutes. Though style and content of minutes may vary slightly from organization to organization, there are a few tips you can use to ensure your minutes are accurate and worthy of record every time you have a meeting.
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Instructions
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Sit close to the meeting's leader.
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Arrange your tools so the microphone of the recording device can easily pick up the voices of the relevant participants.
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Turn on the recording device.
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Speak up if you cannot hear something. In a formal setting you would let the meeting leader know you cannot hear. That person would then make a request that the current speaker articulate more clearly.
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Record the correct date, time, location, association and persons present at the meeting. Clarify the spelling of any names you are not sure about. You may also use an attendance sheet.
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Adopt minutes from the previous meeting. This is your chance to ensure the minutes from the last meeting are accurate.
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Make new minutes in the order the actual discussion takes place, even if this order deviates from the agenda.
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Keep the voice in the minutes neutral. Accurate minutes record what was discussed and what decision or resolution was made. Minutes do not include the opinions of the attendees or of the minute taker. Watch out for phrases that indicate opinion, such as "the decision followed a thrilling discussion" or "the board had a lovely time at their retreat."
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Check your clock for the time the meeting closes, even if it was not the time listed in the agenda.
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Listen to the recording of the meeting while you go over the minutes, making any necessary changes. If any part of the meeting is unclear to you, contact the speaker and ask her what was said.
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Tips & Warnings
Use tools and methods that are most comfortable to you. If you are better at writing by hand than you are at typing, then write by hand. If you just learned shorthand, use it sparingly until you have had time to practice.
Watch out for corrections made by word processing software, as sometimes these "corrections" lead to false information.
Check with the rules of your organization before you bring in a recording device or use a laptop to see if confidentiality regulations exist.
