Writing Effective Minutes
As a minute-writer, you need to listen carefully to discussions, record relevant points, and present that information in an accurate, clear, concise and useful format.
During the meeting, you need to listen actively for important points to record. You need to know the difference between the relevant and the irrelevant, plus differentiate between the nice-to-know and the need-to-know. This can be challenging when a discussion is lively or fast paced.
After the meeting, when you begin compiling your notes, you must consider the type of minutes you are writing. Are they narrative or action minutes? What are the requirements for each type?
On top of it all, you need to be sure that your language is clear and concise, and accurately portrays the issues discussed.
This workshop discusses the various actions you could take before, during, and after a meeting, to facilitate and improve the note-taking and minute-writing processes.
You will have a better understanding of what a typical minute format is like, and how each section of the minutes can be labelled and written.
You will receive practical tips on listening and taking notes effectively, and learn the appropriate language and grammar for portraying various situations in writing up your minutes.
Note
This workshop covers skills for writing minutes of operational meetings, not minutes of board meetings and other corporate meetings, which follow specific procedures and formats.
Detail
| Date: |
24 May 2012 - 25 May 2012 17 Jul 2012 - 18 Jul 2012 |
| Duration: |
2, day(s) 9:00AM - 5:00PM |
| Fee: | $680.00 |
| Venue: |
Bayview Hotel Singapore |
Fees are subjected to prevailing GST of 7%
For more information, please contact JobsDB Learning at 65788111 or email to learning@jobsdb.com.sg
Payment must be made before the commencement of the workshop. No cancellation is allowed 7 days prior to workshop.
Includes course materials, lunch and light refreshments
Outline
Before the Meeting
- Working with the Chairperson
- Preparing yourself for the meeting
- Preparing an agenda
- Keeping pace with the meeting
During the Meeting
- Playing your role effectively
- Focused listening – Practice
- Developing your own shorthand
- Knowing how to interrupt, clarify, and confirm
- Picking out main points, ideas, and actions
- Distinguishing between nice-to-know and need-to-know
Writing Up the Minutes of Meeting
- A typical minutes format
- How to write:
- Apologies
- Minutes of Last Meeting
- Matters Arising
- Any Other Business
Making Your Minutes Reader-Friendly
- Types of minutes you may have to write
- Using short words
- Writing short sentences
- Using paragraphs effectively
- Recording specific information
- Recording actions
- Using the correct tenses for reported speech
- Distributing the minutes
Facilitators
Jolynn Chow
Jolynn has over 25 years of operational experience in areas like banking and finance, publication and distribution, import and marketing of packaging products, as well as training and education.
She has designed and delivered programmes on minute writing, report writing, business and technical writing, phonetics and spoken English, presentation skills, and customer service skills.
Jolynn holds a Master of Arts in Human Resource Development (MAHRD) awarded by the George Washington University, a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBBA) majoring in Marketing awarded by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics awarded by the RELC.
Jolynn also holds a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) awarded by Cambridge University.
Methodology
The workshop is highly interactive, and it engages participants through the use of group discussions, listening and writing exercises, presentations and feedback.
Real case scenarios and writing samples will be used during the workshop, so that the learning is relevant and applicable to work situations.
Who Should Attend
This workshop will benefit secretaries, personal assistants, administrators, executives, managers and other professionals who need to write minutes that are appropriate, clear, accurate, and professionally formatted.
Testimonials
Jolynn brought humor during the training which makes understanding a lot easier.
(Participant from Citibank)
The trainer is well-prepared and has excellent time-control. The material/content is thorough.
(Participant from Koperatif UFUK)
This is a very informative and practical course.
(Participant from Changi Women's Prisons)
It’s enriching, fun, interesting and the workshop leader has a great sense of humour.
(VP - Business Development, Cherry Credits Pte Ltd)
Course leader kept the programme interesting and interactive throughout the session. A very informative programme!
(Operations Manager, Cherry Credits Pte Ltd)
Good workshop. Precise, clear and entertaining.
(Management Support Officer, Ngee Ann Polytechnic)
The course was concise but very informative. The trainer was very well prepared and organised.
(Management Support Officer, Ngee Ann Polytechnic)
I have indeed learnt the correct way of presenting minutes of meeting. It was indeed an enriching programme for me!
(Secretary, Keppel Energy Pte Ltd)
Objectives
1. Know how to prepare yourself to take accurate notes during the meeting.
2. Appreciate how an agenda should be written, and how it helps in the running of an effective meeting and taking the minutes.