Essential Minute Taking Skills

Without minutes participants often leave meetings with a differing

understanding of what was agreed in the meeting. Minutes form a

permanent record of the meeting, and what was agreed.

Following on from this it is obvious that minutes need to be clear, concise,

and consistent. Unfortunately this is rarely the case. Sadly very few people

are trained to take notes in meetings. The minute taker - or Scribe, the term

I will use in this book - is often an ad hoc appointment, and sometimes

done on the basis of who is available, rather than who will be good at the

task. Often someone with secretarial skills is appointed to take the minutes,

but in fact secretarial skills transfer poorly to minute taking.

The key skill in minute taking is not writing at all, but listening. The ability to actively listen to a human being, extract the key message from what they're saying, and then record it is a rare one. This book provides the key skills necessary for efficient and effective minute taking.