Administrative Assistant's Update - sample

3 Administrative Assistant's UPDATE Minute-taking tips It's not who said what, it's what was decided By Rhonda Scharf If you're like most people, you hate taking minutes. Some call in sick, oth- ers trade with coworkers (if you take my minutes, I'll clean your oven!), yet most walk into the meeting with a sick feeling in their stomach, their pulse racing, and a thin sheen of sweat on their forehead. Why? Because for the most part, we don't know what we are doing when we are taking minutes. We are typically following the example of the minutes from the person in front of us (who is following the example of the person in front of her) and so on. It is our meet - ing version of the game "Telephone." Minutes are not a transcript It doesn't have to be that difficult. Here are a few guidelines about taking min- utes that will make it easier for you. Minutes are a written, permanent, formal record of what transpires dur- ing a meeting. They are not a verbatim account, so we should not be writing our minutes by creating a transcript. Just because it happened doesn't mean we need to record it. Ask yourself this question: "Will this matter in two minutes, two hours, two days, two weeks, two months, two years?" If the answer is yes, then it must be recorded in the minutes. It doesn't matter that the chairper- son welcomed us to the meeting. The chairperson should welcome us to the meeting, but it is not necessary for the formal record that we record this. It probably does matter (on the more formal meetings) that the meet- ing started at 9:03; recording starting time is a good idea. If you think through your last meet- ing (and the accompanying minutes) you probably recorded a lot of things just because they happened. That makes it more of a transcript than minutes. Only record what is going to matter in corporate history: What was done, why it was done. Not who said what. Any decisions made naturally matter in the future, but so does a summary of the discussion around that decision. Include discussion summary Let's assume you decided to give all employees a day off in recognition of their birthday. The fact that decision was made is clearly important. But so is the discussion around that decision. For instance: On a motion made by Rhonda, and seconded by George: "All employees shall receive the day of their birthday as a bonus vacation day effective January 1, 2017." MOTION CARRIED Stopping at that point isn't good enough. We need to know the discus - sion around the decision (minutes are a collection of the decisions made and the discussion behind them). Who said what not important It doesn't matter that "Bob said he felt that was good for morale, but Mary felt that was a waste of company money." As far as the corporate his- tory is concerned, the statements are necessary, but who said them is not. On a motion made by Rhonda, and seconded by George: "All employees shall receive the day of their birthday as a bonus vacation day effective January 1, 2017." MOTION CARRIED Discussion: • a good morale booster • hiring incentive • costing the company extra money • not sure it is fair • what about those who have statu- tory holidays as birthdays • concern about birthdays on week- ends We captured the decision (motion carried), and we summarized the discussion around the decision. This way in the future when someone asks "Why do we give people their birthday off," we actually have the real reason. You did notice that in the decision column, I just didn't support the deci- sion (all the reasons why having your birthday off is a good idea). I summa- rized all the points discussed. What helped influence decision? And in the end, it really doesn't matter what Bob or Mary thought, it mat- ters that we discussed the issue and made a decision. The fact that it was mentioned that it was good for morale means that it helped influence the decision (as did the discussion about birthdays on the weekend). Keep your formal record formal. Think of minutes as a history docu- ment. What happened, what was decided, what impacts the company anywhere in the future. Stay away from who said what, and feeling the need to record every little thing that happened. Rhonda Scharf is a certified speaking professional and president of ON THE RIGHT TRACK Training & Consulting. www.on-the-right-track.com Rhonda Scharf

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