Perfect Minutes in an Hour

With Alison Cowper

What We Will Cover

The devil’s in the detail – planning and preparation

Critical listening and picking out the relevant points

Mind mapping for success

Producing the perfect final minutes

Experience

Run Away?

Dread?

or Enjoy?

Benefits

Planning and Preparation

Planning and Preparation

Research

Deal with jargon – glossary of terms

Have an early night before

Prepare your paperwork

Know who’s who

Have a pre-meeting with the Chair:

What are your objectives?

Can I interrupt to clarify?

I will be sitting next to you

Will you please summarise?

Can we put breaks on the Agenda?

One person to speak at a time – please?

What kind of minutes do you want?

During The Meeting

Have spare copies of paperworkSit next to the Chair

Ask yourself “is this relevant?”

What’s the objective?

Interrupt to clarify

Listen carefully before writing

Mind Map

Table Plan

Write people’s names/table shape

Group text according to Speaker

Useful for short, technical agenda items

Good for conference calls

A4 Minute Book

Original notes are kept

Columns are ruled for names and action points/deadlines

Take a new page for each agenda item

Useful for long meetings or a lot of text

The Magic Question

What do you want me to minute?

Decisions

Opinions and Views

Cascade of Information

Trigger Words

Income

Decrease

Trends

Profit

Money

Urgent

Deadline

Immediate

Important

Action point

Potential

Relevant

Resolve Opposing View

Irrelevant

Critical Listening

Why do you lose concentration?

What are your personal barriers?

Can you change your listening habits?

Why Listening is Difficult

Physical and Language Barriers

Speakers are too far away

More than one conversation is going on around the table

Interruptions

Different languages or strong accents

Mumbling or waffling speakers

Room too hot, too cold, hungry, thirsty, need the loo

Why Listening is Difficult

Physiological Barriers

Panic – you have missed the last point and they have moved on

Too long since the last break

The subject has gone off the point – should you be noting this?

Boredom

Lack of respect for the speaker

Other things on your mind

Listening Summary

Identify your personal barriers

Sort out the physical ones where possible

Be confident with your questions, interrupt if necessary

Ask one person to speak at a time

Sit next to the Chair

Ask for a break

Concentrate on the agreed objective, listen for key words

Write when you have understood the whole sentence

Practice

“Hold your breaths!” The Big Friendly Giant whispered down to Sophie. “Cross your figglers! Here we go! We is going right past all these other giants! Is you seeing that whopping great one, the one nearest to us?”

“I see him,” Sophie whispered back, quivering.

“That is the horriblest one of them all. And the biggest of them all. He is called the Fleshlumpeating Giant.”

“I don’t want to hear about him,” Sophie said.

“He is fifty-four feet high, the BFG said softly as he jogged along. “And he is swolloping human beans like they is sugar-lumps, two or three at a time.”

“You’re making me nervous”, Sophie said.

(Extract from the BFG by Roald Dahl)

Practice

Oompa loompa doompety dooI've got a perfect puzzle for youOompa loompa doompety deeIf you are wise you'll listen to me

What do you get when you guzzle down sweetsEating as much as an elephant eatsWhat are you at, getting terribly fatWhat do you think will come of that

Oompa loompa doompety daIf you're not greedy, you will go farYou will live in happiness tooLike the Oompa Loompa Doompety do

Producing the Final Minutes

Write them up within 48 hours

Follow the Agenda

Record the outcome of discussions

Record action points and deadlines

Use headings, bullet points/short sentences/paragraphs

Explain abbreviations the first time they appear

Next Steps

Practise from the TV

Practise from books, old minutes or documents

Summarise, written or verbal

Find the benefits and enjoy