Taking Minutes of Meetings
Author: Joanna Gutmann
Published by: KoganPage, revised 2010
A ‘Must Have’ for those at the coal face of meeting organisation; this handy and practical guide takes the reader through the processes involved in running a successful meeting. Its title “Taking Minutes of Meetings” doesn’t do it justice — it covers the complete process from deciding to hold a meeting to dissemination of minutes and follow up.
The book is aimed mostly at secretaries and assistants, although it is very useful for anyone with responsibility for organising a meeting, whether that be one of the managers or the company chairman. It has detailed planning notes, suggested document layouts, a useful checklist for meeting room preparation and a comprehensive section on effective note taking with advice on how to report succinctly on discussions that are sometimes hard to follow or too technically involved . It should definitely be left on the desk of those managers who seem to think all these things happen by magic and take no time at all!
In theory, setting up a meeting should present no problem: A few phone calls, a confirmation email and that’s it. Anyone who has tried to do it knows the reality.
Joanna Gutmann’s depth of experience in the field is clear, with some interesting insights into why meetings go wrong and practical solutions to help you keep your cool when those around are losing theirs. It is backed up with visuals that demonstrate how to break down lengthy (and sometimes heated) discussions into minute form, relieving much of the stress associated with minute taking.
“The key skill a minute taker needs is the ability to record the message, not the words.”
For those down-trodden souls who feel like the poor relation at meetings, this book has an invaluable section which reinforces the importance of the role o f the minute taker, offers some tips on how not to be ostracised, how to stand your ground and appear confident — it even gives a few polite but firm responses to those bullies who look on the minute taker as the resident slave.
Someone looks at you, and then pointedly at the tray saying “Coffee?” The answer is “Yes Please.”
With this reference book on hand, the organiser can confidently put in place all the requirements for a successful and productive meeting. What happens after that is down to the personalities involved. Perhaps there’s scope for a second book for chairpeople.
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