Drafting Minutes and Taking Notes of Meetings and Telephone Calls
17th Nov 2010
We all spend a large part of our time attending meetings and taking telephone calls. Keeping records is essential to good Governance so that accurate information can be shared with others, common understanding established and action and monitoring can take place.
In this workshop you will discover the different types of minutes, including the style used for cabinet minutes, and their relevance to differing scenarios. You will learn how to write a brief synopsis of a meeting or phone call and how to record action points.’
Learning Objectives
- Understand the importance of good note taking
- Understand the various roles of minutes and the differing types of minutes
- Develop skills to record quickly and accurately the key points in a meeting or conversation
- Learn how to summaries wide ranging discussions – keeping to the relevant issues
Programme
| 9:15 | Registration & Refreshments |
| 9:45 | Welcome and introductions
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| 10:00 | Discussion: what types of meetings we attend – when formal minutes are required and why – why minutes are not deemed necessary for other meetings
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| 10:45 | What types of minutes are there? A look at various minutes and their purpose – followed by quiz – what method of minutes is used for…
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| 11:15 | Refreshments
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| 11:30 | Role play exercise: Participants observe a Cabinet Meeting as note taker. They are then required to produce minutes for the Cabinet Secretary and Prime minister to approve.
Group discussion and tutor feedback on the individual minutes.
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| 13:00 | Lunch
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| 14:00 | Notes of meetings: Taking a note of a meeting in which you are a participant. How does this differ from minute taking? What is the purpose of taking a note, what style might be appropriate? Who might you send the note to?
Taking a note of a phone conversation: recording key points – a look at the need to take accurate notes - whether you are listening in on a call or you are taking part and need to record the events.
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| 15:00 | Refreshments
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| 15:30 | Writing summaries of meetings – constructing e-grams or headline e-mails. A key to keeping others in the loop is fast effective summaries – whether sending information to London about a meeting in post or keeping our Ambassador informed of events in the UK.
Exercise: Participants will observe a bi-lateral meeting between a UK and a Chinese official and will be required to send an immediate e-gram to London.
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| 16:30 | Close
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Please note that the programme is subject to change without notice
