Minute Taking

 

Objectives

Programme

Client comments

Open course

In-house course

Learning objectives

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

• take minutes confidently and accurately
• prepare agendas
• listen effectively and identify key points
• record information rapidly and precisely
• judge how much detail is required
• write up minutes in a clear and professional style
• use active and passive sentences appropriately
• ensure that decisions and actions are clear.

Morning session

Introduction

• Why we take minutes
• The key skills of the minute taker

Before the meeting

• The value of careful preparation
• Understanding the purpose of the meeting
• Thinking about how the purpose will affect the minutes
• Learning from previous minutes
• Looking up acronyms and technical terms
• Thinking about depth of detail

Working with the chair

• The role of the chair
• What the chair expects of the minute taker
• Things to ask before the meeting

Preparing the agenda

• Understanding the purpose of the agenda
• Formatting the agenda
• Ordering and numbering the items
• Adding timings
• Distributing the agenda

Best practice in taking minutes

• Developing listening skills
• Being selective and identifying key points
• Recording information effectively
• Using abbreviations
• Asking for clarification

Helpful technology

• Using a laptop - the pros and cons
• Using a tablet - the latest apps
• Using a Smartpen - what it is and how it can help

Afternoon session

Writing up the minutes

• Thinking about the needs of readers
• Formatting and following conventions
• Summarising and paraphrasing
• Using bullet lists
• Making the actions clear
• Including an actions list

Using professional language

• Writing for your readers
• Getting the tone right
• Favouring plain English

Overcoming the passive voice

• The difference between active and passive
• Why the active is usually best in minutes
• When to use the passive

Avoiding common mistakes

• Easily confused and misused words
• Getting the grammar right
• Punctuating minutes accurately

Closing discussion

• Pulling together key techniques and top tips

Further development

• Reference sources
• Post-course support

More information

The Minute Taking course is available both as an open course and as an in-house course, which we would run at your premises.

For further details about open Minute Taking courses, including pricing and a list of venues and dates of upcoming courses, click here. For more information about the in-house Minute Taking course, click here.

Top of page...

“Soon after the course, I was asked to take the minutes of our team's business meeting. I forwarded them to my boss prior to distribution and she responded: ‘Thank you so much; these minutes are so well written.’ I was very pleased as it was the first opportunity I had had to use the skills I learnt on the course.”

Julie Reed
Administrator
Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

“I have recommended this course to many colleagues. Minute taking can be a bore, but this wasn’t dull at all. A very good course - I gained a lot of valuable skills and techniques.”

Julia Edwards
Personal Assistant
Business Improvement & Systems

“I found the course so helpful and informative. I came away with lots of great techniques and now feel much more confident at taking minutes.”

Vasti Gregory
Office Manager
Universities South-West

“The course was relevant, understandable and well paced. It was extremely helpful and enjoyable.”

Mandy Love
Departmental Secretary
Exeter Business School

Summary

• 1 day
• 9.30am to 4.30pm
• Small groups
• Certificates
• A year of free support
• £395.00 + VAT
• 20% discount for registered charities

Venues and dates

The Minute Taking course calendar

To book a course on-line simply click the date that interests you.

January 2018	February 2018	March 2018	April 2018
M T W T F S S	M T W T F S S	M T W T F S S	M T W T F S S
May 2018	June 2018	July 2018	August 2018
M T W T F S S	M T W T F S S	M T W T F S S	M T W T F S S

	Course will be held in London		Course will be held in Manchester		Course is fully booked
	Course will be held in Bristol		Course will be held in Exeter

Running the Minute Taking course in-house

The Minute Taking course can be run as in-house training anywhere in the world. If you have a group of staff who need the same skills, this option is convenient and cost-effective. It is powerful too, because we can provide a course that is specifically designed to achieve your objectives.

Tailored to your needs

The standard programme is available as in-house training, but you may prefer us to tailor it to match the needs of your staff and your organisation. Tailoring can include:

• adjusting the length of the programme
• adding or removing topics
• using your minutes as examples and exercises
• incorporating your templates

Flexibility

An in-house course is fully flexible. Tell us what you want to achieve and we will work with you to design a course to match. Tell us when you would like to run the course and we will find a date that suits you.

Free support

Every course we run comes with a year of free support for each participant. We recognise that people do not think of every question on the day of the training. Our support service gives them the opportunity to ask their tutor an unlimited number of questions in the year following the course. In this way they continue to build their skills and confidence.

Ask us for a quotation

The cost of an in-house course depends on a number of things, including its length, its location and how much preparation we need to do. We can readily give you a quotation, so please contact us to discuss your needs.