1 before the meeting (preparing)
2 during the meeting (taking notes)
3 After the meeting (writing up the minutes)
First look at some of the tasks for each of these stages:
1 Before the meeting
• read the agenda
• check with the chair of the meeting if anything on the agenda is not
clear
2 During the meeting
• listen
• summarise the discussion
• take notes of the decisions and next steps
• use appropriate language, especially vocabulary
• report what was said (see Appendix 3 for a list of ‘reporting verbs’)
3 After the meeting
• write up a first draft from your notes
• edit the first draft (focus on content – brevity and relevance)
• ask the chair if any items are not clear
• proof read the first draft (focus on language – accuracy and tone)
• produce the final draft
• file the minutes for future reference, and circulate them if appropriate
A from such as the one below can be used for taking notes before and during the
meeting. Go to appendix 4 for a full-sized version of the form that form that you can use for your own note-taking.