FREE 12+ Taking Minutes Samples in MS Word | Pages | Google Docs | PDF

More than being a time for members of a team or an organization to get together and promote the value of teamwork and collaboration, meetings are also a time for weighty agendas and crucial decisions. It’s when the need for the power of many comes and gathers together to build plans and hear each other’s input on various topics. This is why taking the meeting minutes is an important part of this occasion. It preserves the ideas of the session and keeps it as a reminder and useful resource in the future.

FREE 12+ Taking Minutes Samples

1. Sample Business Meeting Minutes

2. Sample Board Meeting Minutes Example

3. Project Meeting Minutes Sample Template

4. Annual Corporate Meeting Minutes Template

5. Advisory Board Meeting Minutes Template

6. Commercial Construction Meeting Minutes Template

7. Free Basic Freelance Meeting Minutes Template

8. Free Simple Corporate Meeting Minutes Template

9. Free Weekly Sales Meeting Minutes Template

10. Taking Minutes & Management Notes Guideline

11. Agenda and Taking Minutes Template

12. Sample Formats for Taking Minutes

13. Sample Minute Takers Guide

What is Minute-Taking?

Minute-taking is simply the act of recording the meeting minutes during a session. The minutes of a meeting refers to the comprehensive details of all agenda, points, actions, assignments, and decisions that transpired during a discussion. It serves as an official report of what happened during that event. 

Why Record the Minutes of a Meeting

According to Indeed, according to the basic uses of a meeting minute is that it serves a guide for absent participants, so they’ll know what it’s all about when they failed to attend the session. It also helps them remind those involved in the action plans and provide them with the key points that they need to keep in mind.

Suppose, if everyone concerned in the discussion is present in the session and is writing notes from the presentation as a personal copy, why make an effort to record it? Why is it still useful? Here are some reasons why it’s important to record a meeting, even under this circumstance:

1. It keeps a record of absentees. Among the important parts of the meeting minutes are its records of participants that took the time to sign the attendance sheet and show up for the session. It’s easy to know who has been regularly skipping meetings.

2. It’s a reliable source of reference. Having a great memory is rare among a wide population. Only very few members of an organization can fully remember the points of the meeting. The meeting minutes distributed to them makes it easier to recall the discussion and make it a reference in the future.

3. It helps give a solution to meeting schedule challenges. Not everyone is going to be available for a certain meeting schedule. With a complete meeting minutes copy, those who weren’t able to make it to the discussion will have complete information about what happened.

Four Effective Tips on How to Take the Minutes of a Meeting

Here are six efficient steps to help you take meeting minutes better:

1. Be Prepared

With exception to surprise meetings that have no structured meeting agenda, prepare for the meeting beforehand. When you’ve received the topic list or the discussion materials, review and familiarize the content. This makes it easier for you to take notes during the meeting because you already have an idea of what flow is like. You’ll also be able to focus on details presented on the session and on how they relate to the material you’ve already reviewed.

2. Stick to the Facts

When taking meeting minutes, you need only to include what’s necessary and what you need to preserve as documentation. In most cases, these important details are labelled as facts. Your notes should have the discussion’s main points, the team’s agreed decision, the next plans, and other important matters. Never include your personal opinion about the topics everyone’s point of view. You don’t also need to include details about anyone’s disagreements during the session.

3. Clarify Vague Points

Your meeting minutes should contain not only accurate information during the meeting but also a clear description of each detail. Because your meeting summary will become a valuable source of data and reference, it’s only right that you spell out details in a manner that makes it easy to interpret. When you encounter ambiguous statements or puzzling points during a discussion, call for clarification. This will not only benefit you as the minute-taker, but it might also answer the same questions that ha been confusing the rest of the crowd.

4. Use an Outline

This will make your task a lot easier. Instead of merely taking down notes as they come, record the meeting flow by having an outline. This helps you understand how the different points and plans connect. This also helps you present your meeting report cohesively because not only have you captured the detail but you were also able to include the flow and how they come together. You can also use minutes of a meeting template that has all the sections you need to help you takes notes of the session in a well-organized manner.

FAQs

Taking the minutes of the meeting is an important part of any discussion. No matter how engaging the discussion might, you will both retain and miss important information. The minutes ensures that none of the significant details is lost in anyone’s memory. Browse through our meeting minutes template options, pick what suits you the best, and download now!