For those who record minutes during meetings, the entire procedure entails completing advance planning, developing a template and terminology, taking notes during the meeting, clarifying any questions with the chair, and writing up the final minutes. Even if you are a competent minute taker, by the time you reach the final full stop, you are no longer the best candidate to analyze the minutes.
An editor is required
Organizations frequently ignore the requirement for an editor. This occasionally turns out well. Minutes that are wrong, too short, too long, poorly phrased, or contradictory with previous minutes for that series of meetings can occasionally elude being detected and altered. When poor meeting minutes are distributed, the chair or other meeting attendees may be forced to waste valuable time editing and rewriting the minute taker’s work. Even worse, it may cause misunderstandings regarding the meeting’s events or action items, which would completely invalidate the minutes-taking process.
But an astute editor can prevent these issues. Editors collaborate with free meeting minutes app to provide input that will help them improve both a specific set of meeting minutes and their overall minute taking work. Minute takers and their audience are separated by editors.
Choose a free meeting minutes app who has a strong writing style and attention to detail. There is only one more requirement for the editor: time. Within 24 hours of receiving the meeting minutes from the minute taker, the editor must be able to thoroughly evaluate them in order to provide useful criticism. Minute takers find it increasingly challenging to make changes as time goes on.
Each meeting worth having will probably result in contentious conversations. That’s because a productive meeting involves more than merely giving reports or endorsing choices that have already been made elsewhere. Those who have a lot to say and fascinating ideas are brought together in a productive meeting. This implies that discussions might occasionally become controversial or even heated.
It is even more crucial to take minutes in a neutral, objective manner when there is disagreement. The meeting’s emotions must be sliced through by the knife of the minute taker’s record. After the meeting, everyone can sit down and, with a clearer brain, analyze what was actually spoken by all parties. Thus, be careful not to express your bias in the meeting or in your minutes.
Organizations occasionally make the error of requesting a committee member to take a few notes. Seldom is this the only option, and it’s never the best.
Practically speaking, the minute taker shouldn’t take part in the discussion. Mention that the person taking notes is attempting to participate in the conversation. How simple is it to record your own conversation in detail? Is it possible to talk and write at the same time? Can you accurately record everything someone else says when you’re attempting to pick what to say next?
The minute taker must be perceived by the other participants as being objective, which is perhaps even more crucial. The individual taking minutes must to be impartial regarding the meeting’s outcome. Participants in a difficult meeting may feel the need to carefully review the minutes for indications of bias if you took sides during the discussion. Occasionally they may even protest to the minutes on the grounds that you can’t be trusted to generate an objective set of meeting minutes, no matter how accurate you have attempted to be since you have spoken in favor of one side or another.
The editor should review the minutes in light of the following queries:
- Are the minutes of the meeting readable and clear?
- Are they logical?
Contrary to popular belief, the editor is not required to have been present at the meeting. In many cases, it is really preferable if the individual amending the meeting minutes was not there. The minute taker may be given the benefit of the doubt by someone who was there at the meeting (“This isn’t entirely clear, but I understand what you mean”). The minutes will be reviewed from a new perspective by someone who wasn’t present. You are well on your way to taking effective minutes if your minutes make sense to a reader from the outside.