Minute Taking Made Simple

Overview

Course duration: 1 day.

Make minute taking a complete breeze. Using a few simple yet brilliantly effective techniques, you can be in total control, get to the heart of the meeting andhave the confidence to know that you’ve got everything covered.

A minute taker has a key role in ensuring meetings are productive. You want to be confident and competent in this role. Throughout the day, the trainer will take you through a step-by-step approach to producing effective minutes – giving templates to help you produce structured agendas and take notes effectively. Practical exercises will help you build confidence and put ideas into practice.

Is it right for me?

Designed for those who need the confidence and skills to produce accurate minutes.

What will I learn?

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Save valuable time and gain confidence in your role as minute taker.
• Work in partnership effectively with the chair and colleagues when preparing the agenda, meeting papers and minutes.
• Recognise your own barriers to active listening – and overcome them – to help maintain concentration and capture key points.
• Try out new, tried and tested note-taking techniques.
• Pick out key points from discussions.
• Ultimately produce a clear, concise set of minutes.

Pre-course Activity

You may want to bring a sample of minutes you have produced to review and refer to on the day. You will be asked to complete a pre-course questionnaire which will help the trainer to focus on individual needs.

What will it cover?

Before the Meeting Guidance on How to Set up a Meeting

• The importance of a structured agenda to guide people through a meeting
• The minute-taker and the chair – working in partnership

The Difference Between Hearing and Actively Listening

• Maintaining concentration when interest is fading
• Tips to overcome personal barriers to listening

Note-Taking – There is More than One Way

• Different ways to take notes in different situations
• What information is not necessary to note?
• Do the action points stand out with time-frames and those responsible?

The Final Stages

• Making sense of the notes – immediately after the meeting is the language used ‘reader-friendly’?
• The need to make the minutes visually appealing
• Formatting and structuring the minutes for clarity and professionalism
• Checking for accuracy – facts, grammar and punctuation
• Have the minutes achieved their purpose?

Action Planning

• Creating your personal action plan for the future

Trainer Profile

Jean Sutcliffe

Without training, Minute Taking can be one of the most challenging aspects of the secretarial role. It’s difficult to understand what’s relevant and what isn’t, how to keep up and to keep focused.

I’ve taken minutes for many years, at team meetings, senior management meetings and board meetings and have some invaluable tips and techniques to share with you that will help you make sense of your notes and turn them into perfect sets of minutes.

The Faculty

Along withAlison Cowper, Andrew Ward, Teresa Benzinski and Jan White, Jean Sutcliffe is part of the dedicated faculty team who will deliver this course. The initials next to each date below indicate which trainer is scheduled to deliver which event.

Recent delegates have said:

"I found the trainer really professional and friendly; her approach made me feel very comfortable."