How to take minutes: What needs to be con­sid­ered?

Whether it’s a board meeting, legal con­sul­ta­tion, or an as­so­ci­a­tion meeting, taking the minutes is often oblig­a­tory. However, it is an unpopular task and few are ever envious of the minute taker. Many managers even wonder why it’s necessary to record minutes. The answer is simple: the minutes are extremely important for all parties involved.

Many people have to write numerous emails and documents every day, es­pe­cial­ly in office jobs. If they also have to take minutes, many will be reluctant and may ask them­selves: “What is all this effort for?” You don’t have to think long and hard for an answer from now on, because there are many good reasons for taking minutes.

However, in order for the minutes to actually fulfil their functions, it shouldn’t just be a matter of writing them. After all, a well-struc­tured, in­for­ma­tive record is of no use to anyone if it ends up directly in the trash once sent out to the email dis­tri­b­u­tion list. Only when employees and man­age­ment actively use the tran­script as a working tool does it have a positive effect. A simple way to ensure this is to have someone read out the minutes of the previous meeting at each meeting in order to recall the contents.

In meetings, many decisions are made. However, if a meeting lasts a long time and there are numerous requests to speak, few people remember the exact working of the decision after a few weeks. It can also be hard to remember how these decisions were arrived at. Therefore, if you want to take up a par­tic­u­lar issue in a sub­se­quent sitting, it is extremely useful to be able to refresh your memory by reading out the minutes from the previous meeting.

Did a committee member commit them­selves to a task and are now denying it? Do several people in­cor­rect­ly consider them­selves re­spon­si­ble for a certain area? A con­sci­en­tious­ly kept record notes the dis­tri­b­u­tion of tasks and therefore creates com­mit­ment.

Whether due to vacation or illness, it can sometimes happen that employees are unable to attend a meeting. A well-kept record of the minutes keeps them up to date on what went on in their absence. Investors also have a right to in­for­ma­tion. If a share purchaser audits your company, the analysis team may ask for board meeting minutes or minutes for other important meetings.

There are three main char­ac­ter­is­tics according to which different types of minutes can be dis­tin­guished:

• Time of writing
• Content focus
• The medium

Minutes represent the sequence of a session, ne­go­ti­a­tion, or meeting. Depending on the time when the minutes are taken they can be assigned to a par­tic­u­lar minute-taking type.

The apriori method pre­scribes the rules and the concept for an event. It is therefore written before the event. This type of protocol is often used in the field of diplomacy: heads of state follow a protocol to structure a formal event and avoid diplo­mat­ic incidents.

The now-method takes place, as the name suggests, during the session itself. Business meetings, court cases and sci­en­tif­ic ex­per­i­ments often require this type of minute taking. This is because the events should be re­pro­duced as ac­cu­rate­ly as possible. In the economic field, it is the most common form of tran­script.

The apos­te­ri­ori method (memory method) has the minutes recorded from memory after the session. This type of recording is helpful in order to be able to remember facts later that can have a po­ten­tial­ly detri­men­tal effect. It is used after traffic accidents and the sub­se­quent dis­cus­sion with the police or insurance company, as well as after verbal agree­ments with business partners. The apos­te­ri­ori method is usually a kind of memory aid and does not require any par­tic­u­lar form.

If you want to take minutes, you first need to make yourself aware of why they need to be taken in the first place. You then take this purpose into account when designing the minute’s content:

If what has been said needs to be as clear as possible, use a verbatim report. With direct quo­ta­tions in the person’s exact words, this method makes it possible to un­der­stand how certain decisions were made. The courts use this kind of protocol, for example, as evidence during ne­go­ti­a­tions. The following minutes must be clearly dis­tin­guished from the verbatim minutes, in which the person taking the minutes re­pro­duces the content or events in their own words:

The flow trace shows the events in chrono­log­i­cal order. Log a project by recording the duration of in­di­vid­ual sections and the exact time that events took place. The progress log is a special form of minute taking that leaves room for more detailed records. Not only do you describe the chrono­log­i­cal sequence, but you also record who made which state­ments and when. Depending on how detailed the minutes should be, you can also discuss the reasons for debates and their results in the progress minutes. Progress reports are common at team meetings or board meetings as well as at legal con­sul­ta­tions. They are usually written in the present tense and contain indirect speech.

The result method is also well suited for meetings. Instead of the course, however, the results are presented here in detail. It is not just a matter of pre­sent­ing every­thing that has been said during the meeting, but recording the minutes in terms of decisions. They therefore present the event in a condensed form and con­cen­trate on those aspects that con­tributed to finding the results.

The seminar method (or teaching method) combines the result and progress methods. You assign the state­ments to different subject areas. You do not have to follow a chrono­log­i­cal order. For example, if something is said about the first topic later in a meeting, enter it in that topic as well.

Minutes can be dif­fer­en­ti­at­ed according to the type of recording used. If you write a log, you can use either long or short hand, for example. If the document is to be used by other employees at a later date, a tran­script in longhand is prefer­able. However, shorthand is excellent for note-taking. Minute taking of legally relevant meetings, however, is in­creas­ing­ly being taken over by machines. In computer tech­nol­o­gy, logging methods register your minutes and in the event of an accident, black boxes log relevant in­for­ma­tion. Sound record­ings and video record­ings are also possible.

In the business en­vi­ron­ment, flow methods and result methods records are the most common forms. The minute takers usually transmit the minutes as a written document in elec­tron­ic form. The advantage of this is that they save paper. The dis­ad­van­tage of this is that col­leagues easily overlook or ignore the document in daily email cor­re­spon­dence. Try to coun­ter­act this by making it easy for your readers:

• Formulate sentences that are as short as possible
• Make yourself clear and succinct
• Highlight important points with for­mat­ting
• Structure the log in a mean­ing­ful way. If points are further apart chrono­log­i­cal­ly but belong together the­mat­i­cal­ly, group them in the same section when taking the minutes. In a progress log, on the other hand, ref­er­ences to past or future events are not lost.
• The result of this is that you must con­sis­tent­ly adhere to the chosen minutes’ format.
• Assign state­ments to the re­spec­tive speakers.
• Attach the relevant documents at the end and link them to the ap­pro­pri­ate place.

A clear structure increases read­abil­i­ty. With uniform for­mat­ting of all recorded minutes, par­tic­i­pants get used to the fixed structure and will be able to adapt quickly in the future. It can therefore be helpful if you create a template for minute takers. The following standard in­for­ma­tion belongs in every protocol:

The header: The header includes the place, date, and names of the par­tic­i­pants. The meeting topic serves as a heading.

The main part: Here, you reproduce the discussed topics. In a result protocol, each thematic point is given its own paragraph. In this paragraph, you summarize arguments and debates on this topic. Means of vi­su­al­iza­tion, on the other hand, belong in the appendix. You should also include counter-arguments to certain state­ments in the main part – es­pe­cial­ly if they raise questions that might be important for follow-up sessions.

The con­clu­sion: At the end, you summarize the results and decisions of the meetings again. If tasks have been dis­trib­uted, name the person in charge. Here, you also have room for an outlook for the next meeting. You indicate when the next meeting is scheduled. If ap­point­ments have been made, make a note of this. In the next session, these notes help document important progress. At the end of the meeting, the minutes usually include space for the recording clerk and meeting chairs’ sig­na­tures.

The Appendix: The appendix includes handouts of lectures, slides from pre­sen­ta­tions or documents with facts and figures on the subject, which clearly present in­for­ma­tion in the minutes.

If you are writing a tran­script, you should also adhere to the stylistic con­ven­tions. Write ob­jec­tive­ly and concisely. Emotional eval­u­a­tions or personal comments should not be included when taking the minutes. You should not write in the first-person per­spec­tive either. With quo­ta­tions, on the other hand, you can emphasize sig­nif­i­cant arguments.

For res­o­lu­tions and official motions you use direct speech, all other state­ments are written in indirect speech. Usually you take the minutes in the present tense, in some cases the past tense is allowed – but make sure you stay con­sis­tent whichever one you use! Avoid mental leaps and keep the minutes clear and un­der­stand­able.

Apart from the memory protocol, no method can do without a detailed tran­script. It is too easy to forget facts and cir­cum­stances. Speakers are un­der­stand­ably unhappy when they are assigned false state­ments or tasks. So don’t hesitate to ask questions during the session if something is unclear to you – while you might still be pondering over a matter you want to note down, the dis­cus­sion continues on. Perhaps someone is talking in between while someone else is making an important argument. Or, you don’t know enough about a topic to be able to estimate whether you have correctly re­pro­duced it in a shortened form. Before you write something down the wrong way, and have to correct it later, you’re better off doing it right the first time.

Also keep the following tips in mind if you’re wondering how to take the minutes ef­fec­tive­ly:

Are you minute taking a lecture? Speak to the person in advance, if possible. You may be able to use some of the materials provided (graphics, handouts) as prepa­ra­tion for your minutes. In addition, you can place them in the appendix at an early stage and do not have to ask for them af­ter­wards. Clarify terms that are less familiar to you in advance. If it is a recurring event, take a look at the minutes of the previous session. This will remind you of the previous session and you will be prepared if you are going to follow up. Maybe you don’t know all the session par­tic­i­pants? Research to quickly identify names and faces.

There is no need to write a verbatim tran­script for a business meeting. Con­cen­trate on the most important topics and follow the discourse to the final decision. It helps if you keep the actual meeting topic in mind. If you want to include a longer con­ver­sa­tion in your minutes, ask yourself: does this con­ver­sa­tion really lead to a decision that is relevant for the meeting topic?

For example: You take the minutes during a meeting about the quarterly budget for acquiring exhibits in your local museum club. Two par­tic­i­pants discuss whether to serve Black Forest Gateau or New York Cheese­cake at the club’s next coffee morning. The answer is: both. However, it doesn’t matter for the quarterly budget, since the money comes from a different pot and the food has nothing to do with the exhibits. This means the subject doesn’t belong in the minutes.

It’s a simple trick, but it will save you a lot of work later on. When taking the minutes, leave space between each written line. Another option: at the end of complex topics, leave enough space for a further section. If the con­ver­sa­tion turns back to a topic in between, just continue writing at this point. If you put your minutes together later, you can work through your topic com­plex­i­ties step by step and don’t have to structure the tran­script the­mat­i­cal­ly af­ter­wards.

It doesn’t have to be pro­fes­sion­al shorthand. If you use ab­bre­vi­a­tions, si­mul­ta­ne­ous logging will be quicker for you. Develop or use a system that you can cope with on a permanent basis. Otherwise, you might forget later what the ac­cu­mu­la­tion of letters is supposed to mean. Write the tran­script using keywords if necessary.

If argument and counter-argument alternate in a verbal exchange, as a group member you probably share some of the views of either person. Nev­er­the­less, when recording the minutes, you must present both sides fairly. Even if you don’t like decisions, you have to be factual when writing minutes.

If necessary, go through the notes again at the end of the sitting by reading them out. If a person then thinks that their speech hasn’t been presented ac­cu­rate­ly, they can object im­me­di­ate­ly. You can also fact-check for accuracy this way, all the while reminding all par­tic­i­pants of the most important meeting points.

Begin the final version im­me­di­ate­ly, while the key aspects are still fresh in your mind. If you have questions, the par­tic­i­pants will also remember them better and can answer your questions promptly.

So, you’ve recorded the minutes. But have you def­i­nite­ly thought of every­thing? Does the quality standard meet your usual re­quire­ments? Before you send the document to your col­leagues on the mailing list, use our checklist to be sure.

Minutes are used in many areas. If the parties involved, or even third parties, want to be able to reproduce certain decisions later, these written records help to un­der­stand the preceding decision-making process. If you want your employees to take the minutes in a meeting, you can convince them that minute-taking is useful by providing the reasons stated here. You can also use our tips and templates. This will result in less work, as well as in­for­ma­tive, clearly struc­tured minutes.

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