If you’re already responsible for taking minutes at your workplace, chances are you may want to improve on this skill. Taking minutes for a meeting is a highly-regarded skill and can help to open you to new employment opportunities if ever you wanted to change roles. But, how can you improve on this skill?
There are a few things you can do to help feel more confident next time you step into the boardroom. With practice and time, you’ll find yourself taking minutes like an absolute pro.
Youtube Videos
As the old saying goes, “Practice makes perfect”. But, if you’re not feeling very confident when taking minutes in a real-time setting, there is an opportunity to use Youtube videos as a starting point. There are plenty of videos available for mock interviews and meetings that are a great opportunity to practice your skill. The best part about using this technology is that you can stop the video, rewind anything you’ve missed and even, replay the whole thing to make sure you’ve covered everything.
Take A Course
There are plenty of corporate training courses to help with your minute-taking skills. There are a wide number of different courses starting from complete beginner to refresher courses for executive assistants, personal assistants and staff who already take minutes at their corporation. These courses can help you to either get to know the skill in depth or to increase your skill level to attend Board, AGM and Shareholder meetings. Depending on your current experience, there are definitely a number of courses that you can attend to help boost your confidence in every meeting.
Choose A Comfortable Method
There will be various methods that work for your colleagues but may not be the best for you, personally. While one person may be comfortable using a laptop to take down the minutes, others may be more comfortable with a good old-fashioned pen and notepad. The best way to figure out which method works for you is to practice each method. Try out each method either in a real-life setting or using some online mock meeting videos to see what really feels comfortable for you. Just because you might look more professional on a laptop, doesn’t mean you have to use this method. Always choose the tools that suit you and your needs.
Be Prepared
Whenever you attend a meeting, you need to be prepared. The last thing you want to be doing is excusing yourself to find more paper or scurrying through your bag for a pen that works. Always go to your meetings completely prepared with extra pens, pencils, writing materials and if using a laptop, a backup battery if you can. Always ensure you arrive early or on time and you have gone over all the necessary documents beforehand.
Develop Shorthand
Whether you learn Teeline Shorthand or develop your own, chances are it will save you a lot of time and effort when you’re taking minutes. Often during a meeting, some attendees will speak quickly or go through parts of the meeting faster than you can write. In this case, having a method of writing quickly and accurately is going to save you time in the long-run. You’ll be able to reduce the number of times you need to ask for clarification on anything, too.
Practice Your Listening Skills
With all the chaos in the world, sometimes it can be tough to just sit and listen for a solid period of time. Practising and honing your listening skills won’t just help you in your next meeting, but you’ll also be able to communicate better at work and at home. Have a listen to 5 Ways To Listen Better, a TED Talk by Julian Treasure. It has some excellent tips to help you increase your listening skills and therefore, listen more carefully to meetings. Another great way is to be silent. Meditation and just spending some quiet time alone can also help you to de-stress and be able to pick up on more sounds and words when you are in a room full of attendees.
Whether you’re just starting in the world of minute-taking or wish to increase your current skill set, with these tips you’ll be getting better in no time at all. For the times when you just want someone else to handle it, an independent minute-taker for your corporation or business is the perfect solution. As a one-off service or a regular meeting attendee, Meetings Into Minutes can certainly help.
