UNIT 5

WRITING MEETING MINUTES

 Names of the participants

 Agenda items and topics in discussion

 Action items
Things to notice about meeting
minutes
 Clarity: Everything needs to be clear and
specific
 Consistence: The tone and grammatical
tense must be the same throughout the
minute report
 Proofread (i.e. read to check for mistakes)
before sending them to the related
individuals.
 Writing minutes requires a careful and
detailed procedure.
Steps to follow
1. Pre-Planning
2. Record taking at the meeting
3. Minutes writing or transcribing
4. Distributing or sharing of meeting
minutes
5. Filing or storage of minutes for
future reference
1. Pre-Planning
 Coming up with a kind of agenda
(outline) for the meeting minutes
 Essentially about getting to know
the content of the upcoming
meeting or conference
 Working with the Chairperson can
make it easier to prepare.
 The agenda includes the following:
+ Names of all participants, including
guests or speakers
+ Documents that are sent out with the
agenda or handed out in the meeting.
The copies (digital or hard) of handouts
should be stored with the meeting
minutes for future reference and for
sharing with those who were unable to
attend the meeting (and others as
determined by the meeting’s Chair).
2. Record taking at the meeting
 Because writing is a process that
takes time, taking notes is what we do
during the meeting.
 When taking notes, we can use
symbols, abbreviations and phrases.
 Later, the notes have to be
reorganized according to the following
format:
 Date and time of the meeting
 Names of the meeting participants
and those unable to attend
 Acceptance or corrections to
previous meeting minutes
 Decisions made about each
agenda item, for example:
+ Actions taken or agreed to be taken
+ Next steps
+ Voting outcomes – e.g., (if necessary,
details regarding who made motions;
who seconded and approved or via
show of hands, etc.)
+ Motions taken or rejected
+ Items to be held over
+ New business
+ Next meeting date and time
 Things to notice when taking notes:
 Create an outline
 Check-off attendees as they enter the
room
 Record decisions or notes on action
items
 Ask for clarification if necessary
 Capture the crucial points
 Record it, but make sure the
participants know they are recorded
3. Minutes writing or transcribing
 Start writing the minutes as soon as
possible
 Check the outline, additional points
coming up in the meeting
 Use the same grammatical tense in
the entire minutes report
 Editing is necessary to guarantee the
minutes are brief, clear and easy to
follow.
 Something to notice:
 For Board of Director’s minutes in
particular, include a short description of
each action taken, as well as the rationale
behind the decision.
 In case there was a lot of discussion before
passing a motion, write down the major
arguments for and against.
 Make sure that the minutes only include
facts.
 Just indicate where other documents can be
found, or attach them in the appendix.
4. Distributing or sharing of meeting
minutes
 Historically, meeting minutes reports
have been distributed in the printed
form.
 Nowadays, soft versions can be used,
e.g. in the PDF format
 Sharing minutes on members-only
websites has become common
practice.
5. Storage of minutes for future
reference
 The minutes can be stored online
(e.g. Google Docs, SkyDrive, etc.)
 An external hard drive can be a
place to store the soft version of
the minutes.
 Hard copies are also in demand.
Format
 Compared to an essay, a report of
a meeting may look more like a
fragmented text.
 However, there are parts that look
like paragraphs, e.g. business from
the previous meeting, new issues,
etc.
1. Title and Opening
 Name of the organization
 Title “Meeting Minutes”
 Date of the meeting
 Opening:
 When the meeting was called to
order
 Where it was organized
 Who called it to order
2. Members:
 Names and positions of participants
 Names and positions of members
who were absent
3. Approval:
 Approval of the agenda: Who
approved it
 Approval of the minutes: Who
approved the meeting report
4. Business or issues
 From the previous meeting:
 Motions (proposals of what to do)
or topics raised at the previous
meeting
 Short description of what
happened at that previous meeting
 Whether the motions or topics
were approved or rejected
 New business in this meeting:
 Motions or topics raised for the
first time at this meeting
 A brief description of what took
place at this meeting
 Whether the motions or topics
were approved or rejected
5. What to add to the agenda: Additional items
raised by the members at the meeting
6. Adjournment (The call to end the meeting):
 What time it was adjourned
 By whom it was adjourned
 Where and when the next meeting will be
held
7. Submission and approval of the minutes:
 Who submitted the minutes
 Who approved the minutes
Writing Task 1
From the meeting minutes in
Handout A, arrange the content of
the minutes in the right parts of the
notes.
Answer:
1. Name of organization: (The)
Toronto Association of Beekeepers
2. Date of meeting: April 25, 2019
3. Time: 6:00 PM
4. Location: The Hive
5. Chairperson: Tatiana Morand
(Facilitator)
6. Participants:
• Facilitator: Tatiana Morand
• Board Members: Drusa Shyamala,
Saifulla Dagney, Juda Zackary, Agatha
Kay, Drusilla Longos
• Executive Director: Enrique Carver
7. Not able to attend: James Clarkson
(Marketing Manager)
8. Approval of agenda and minutes:
unanimous as distributed
9. From previous meeting
a. Budget Committee Report:
• Budget for 2019: finalized, distributed by
Committee Leader Saifullah Dagney
• What she did: running through itemized list of
line items
• What board members did: raising questions
periodically
• Major change from budget of 2018: marketing
spending going up/increasing marketing spending
• Motion to accept: seconded (formally
supported), passed
b. New Hive Research:
• Result of research into new brand
of hives explained by: Juda Zackary
• Buying items in bulk for association:
too high a price/too expensive =>
against/rejected
• Ms. Zackary’s motion to dismiss
proposal: seconded/supported,
passed
10. What is new? Marketing Plan for Gala
James Clarkson absent => deferred for
upcoming meeting
11. Agenda: Additions
Motion made by Ms. Zackary about
discussing selling honey at market of local
farmers, dismissed by Mr. Carver. Mr.
Carver suggested adding that motion to
May’s meeting. Mr. Carver’s motion
seconded by Ms. Kay, added to May’s
meeting.
12. Next Meeting’s agenda: Marketing
Plan for Gala, Gala Agenda, Farmer’s
Market Honey Sale
13. Adjournment: At 8:30 PM by Ms.
Morand.
14. Next meeting:
a. Date: May 22nd, 2019
b. Time: 6:00 PM
c. Location: The Hive
Writing Task 2 - Homework
From the information in the note in
Handout B, write the minutes for this
meeting.