CONDUCTING MEETINGS AND MINUTE WRITING

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

By the end of the sub-module unit, the trainee should be able to:

a) Define terms and concepts use.

b) State the types of minutes.

c) Explain challenges of meeting and minutes writing

Definitions
 A meeting is a gathering of two or more people that has been convened for the purpose of
achieving a common goal through verbal interaction, such as sharing information or reaching
agreement. Meetings may occur face to face or virtually, as mediated by communications
technology, such as a telephone conference call, a skyped conference call or a videoconference.
 Formal or informal deliberative assembly of individualscalled to debate certain issues and
problems, and to take decisions.

Formal meetings are held at definitetimes, at a definite place, and usually for a definite duration
to follow an agreed upon agenda. The opposite is true for informal meetings.

Minutes
They are notes recounting the transactions occurring at a meeting or official proceeding. Minutes
describe the events of the meeting, starting with a list of attendees, a statement of the issues
considered by the participants, and related responses or decisions for the issues.
Role of Meetings
Meetings are an important organizational tool as they can be used to:
 Develop ideas
 Solve problems
 Make decisions
 To understand a situation, exchange ideas and experiences
 To inform, explain, present ideas
 To give and get feedback on new ideas
 To give training
 To plan and prepare for action
 To resolve differences and misunderstandings
 To generate enthusiasm and seek cooperation
 To review past performance and evaluate it
 To create a feeling of continuity and solidarity in a body’s working.
Types of meeting
Types of meetings will naturally vary between different organisations. Below are some type of
meetings that take place in an organization:
a) Annual General Meeting (AGM)
 A formal meeting, held annually, where, those responsible for running the company (the
directors) meet with those who own it (the shareholders). The AGM for a company must be held
annually.
b) Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)
This is a general meeting which is called to deal with urgent matters which require resolution
between AGMs.
c) Board meetings
Meetings held by directors of companies or institutions.
d) Committee meetings
These are meetings involving a group of people who have been drawn from the larger group for
the purposes of managing specific issues.
e) Management meetings
Management meetings can take many forms depending on the structure of the organisation.
These meetings involve managerial decision making at various levels. For example, some
meetings will involve the senior management team, while others will involve middle
management or will cover both groups.
f) Departmental meetings
These are periodic meetings attended by all departmental staff to discuss and address
departmental issues (e.g. reviewing performance, setting objectives, reporting on the outcome of
actions taken and discussing any other matters in connection with departmental operations).
g) Steering group meetings
A steering group may be formed to take a high-level overview of a project. The group is usually
composed of senior executives, project leaders and possibly external advisors to the organisation.
h) Team briefings
These are meetings held by the team leader to discuss issues with members of the team (e.g.
progress reviews, allocation of tasks, setting objectives, performance and motivational issues).
i) One-off informal meetings
These are meetings that take place anywhere at any time. They may be informal discussions
between one or two employees or a small group.
Role/duties of the chairperson
i. To prepare the agenda. This is a list of items to be discussed.
ii. To declare the meeting formally open at the appropriate time.
iii. To introduce each item for discussion together with the member who is to talk about it
where necessary.
iv. To ensure that the meeting works through each agenda at a reasonable pace.
v. To make sure that no one is allowed to dominate the discussion by seeking the views of
everyone in the meeting.
vi. To intervene if the discussion becomes heated or if personal animosity or abuse seems
likely.
vii. To supervise voting procedures, count votes and announce the results.
viii. To ensure that a minutes of the previous meeting are produced by the secretary and
circulated to each member for agreement at the next meeting.
Roles/ duties of the secretary
i. To send out notices of the meeting in good time to all the members.
ii. Together with the chair person, they draw agenda and to send copies of it to the members
in good time before the meeting.
iii. To circulate among members any documents that might be necessary to enable them to
contribute fully to the discussion of the matters listed on the agenda.
iv. To make arrangements for the accommodation of members who have to travel a long
distance to attend the meetings.

Planning a meeting
Planning improves participation by ensuring that discussion is on a single topic and that the
members are well prepared for the meeting. This is the responsibility of the Chairperson,
Secretary and Executive, depending on the type of organization.
Planning should include the following:
1. Notification: Everyone should been notified of the date, time and venue of the meeting.
2. Preparing the agenda: The agenda is a list of the most important issues for the members
to discuss. It is drawn from the Matters Arising from the previous meeting and from the
discussions of the Executive or Secretariat.
How to Conducting a meeting
1. The chair calls the meeting to order at the scheduled start time even if someone is running
late.
2. Respect the schedules of your meeting participants and end the meeting on time as well.
If you can't cover all of the points within the allotted time, move it to the agenda of the very next
meeting.
3. Ask a secretary or other meeting participant to take minutes at every business meeting so
that everyone will recall what was discussed and decisions made.
4. Pass out a written meeting agenda to each participant to clarify the direction of the
meeting. Pass out the previous meeting's minutes as well.
5. Introduce any guests in attendance at your business meeting before you get started.
6. Summarize the purpose of the meeting and what you want to accomplish at the very
beginning. Then start with the first item in your agenda.
7. Follow your agenda closely and do not allow meeting participants to veer off of the order
of issues to discuss.
8. Prohibit meeting participants from insulting, talking over, talking loudly, belittling or
raising his voice to other members at the meeting. This causes productivity to suffer. If someone
is being repeatedly violating these basic rules of conduct at your meeting, ask him to leave.
9. Transition to each new item on your agenda with finality and do not backtrack. Moderate
the meeting if necessary by giving each member the go-ahead to speak his mind on the issue.
Ask each person to limit her point to two minutes or less.
10. Leave time at the end of the meeting for a short question and answer session to clarify
points of confusion during the meeting or to allow a particularly vocal participant who has a
relevant and important point to voice his thoughts briefly.
11. End your meeting on a positive note that inspires action. Summarize what each member
must do from this point forward to accomplish the goals and issues discussed.
Advantages of Meetings:
i. It Saves time:
This is because one can meet a large number of people at a time.
ii. Improve decision:
 Improved decision can be taken through meeting. This is because every matter is discussed
considering the pros and cons of an issue. A Proverb says, “Two heads are better than one.”
iii. Information Sharing
A key advantage of meetings, from those held within the office among staff to meetings between
a company and its clients, is that they provide an opportunity to share information. This could be
as simple as sharing updates on financials or recognizing new employees to more complex
issues, such as contract negotiations, new client presentations or addressing problems with an
account. An actual meeting pinpoints a time and place to have in-depth discussions without other
distractions or work getting in the way.

iv. Social and emotional support: Members get personal support from each other when
they meet and exchange ideas.
v. Feeling of being consulted: Members get the feeling that they have been consulted and
this is useful in getting their intelligent and willing cooperation.
vi. Idea development: Ideas are systematically thought about, analyzed and improved in the
meeting
vii. Various interest groups represented: In a meeting many interest groups can be
represented and minorities can also be given due attention.
Disadvantages:
1. Expensive:
Meetings are expensive to arrange – they require a venue, paperwork, prior communication, and
travelling by the attendees.
2. Open to disruption:
3. Formalities: There are many formalities to hold on a meeting. Agenda, minutes,
regulations are needed for a valid meeting.
Challenges faced in conducting of meetings
i. Not finishing on time
Meetings often run overtime and consequently many agenda items don't get adequate coverage
or don't even get covered at all.
ii. Difficulty in making decisions
Some meetings seem to drag on as group members struggle to reach consensus and make
decisions. The responsibility for coming to decisions rests squarely with the chair or leader.
iii. Dominant Participants
Dominant participants often suppress collaborative problem solving and creativity among
participants. The chairperson needs to see all that members are given equal opportunities to
contribute.
iv. Silent Participants
Some people are quiet in meetings for different reasons. Some people are reticent/ reserved by
nature. Others are fearful that their opinions will be ridiculed and dismissed. Some are not
comfortable speaking in the presence of strangers.
v. Rehashing Decisions
Issues that were discussed and decided on in previous meetings sometimes re-emerge to be
rehashed. This can be very discouraging to the group or committee. Some reasons for this
include:
 People were not aware that a conclusive decision was actually made regarding a specific
issue.
  People recall that a decision was made, but the record of it is not available.
 Dominant participants pushed through a decision in a previous meeting and silent
participants begin to speak up afterwards.
vi. Key persons don't attend
When key members and/or staff don't attend meetings, decisions may be made that are later
questioned and not implemented as hoped. As a chairperson, you can help ensure that key
players attend meetings and provide input when needed.
Challenges in minute writing
 It is difficult to know exactly what has been agreed upon when members are not sticking
to the point and lots of different suggestions are being at once.
 The discussion moving from one agenda to another before it has been exhaustively
discussed.
 Everyone talking at once, such that you can’t follow the discussion
 Where there is a long and confusing discussion and you don’t know which bits are
important to write down.
 Where the secretary wants to contribute at the same time write the minutes.
 Being nervous about getting minutes writing right.

Twelve Qualities of an Effective Meeting

 People understand and carry out their roles

 Efficient and effective meeting process

 Safe, stimulating environment

 Participants able to contribute freely

 Full potential of the group is utilized

 Time is used well

 Minimal amount of wheel-spinning

 Clear agreement reached

 Consensus fully supported

 An energized team leaves the room to implement the decisions made

 Clear understanding of who will do what, by when, to follow through on meeting

agreements

 Everyone participates
The characteristics of a good agenda:-
1. The names of expected attendees.
2. The exact place date.
3. The starttime for starting the meeting.
4. Rough indication of the meeting next time.
5. The time expected to be end.
6. Objective of the meeting.
7. Issues discussed and resolved.
8. Action will taken.
Types of minutes
How you write your minutes should be determined by how they will be used.
Minutes can be informal or formal depending on their purpose and audience.
1. Action minutes
These are written by internal groups, such as teams or project groups, which meet on a regular
basis and the minutes they produce minutes that emphasize action points without worrying about
keeping a detailed account of how or why decisions were made. The purpose of these minutes is
to provide a record of decisions that require action. Brief notes with lists of action points might
be all that is required. As the audience is internal, the style might be informal with action points
listed in a table, and discussion and decisions noted as bullet points.
Often, the minute-taker will be a member of the team or group, and is free to participate in the
discussion.
2. Discursive minutes
Here, discussions and decisions are recorded in paragraphs of full text with full sentences.
Usually, decisions are recorded as having been taken by the committee, or by the members. It is
rare to name individuals.
The minute-taker in this case is usually a formally appointed secretary. The secretary has a
range of tasks which includes assisting in setting the agenda; calling for, collating and
distributing papers; following up on action points; and providing briefings to the Chair. The
secretary is not expected to contribute to the discussions, leaving him/ her free to accurately and
objectively describe what took place at the meeting without bias or distraction.
3. Verbatim minutes
These minutes offer a word-for-word account. The minute-taker is expected to record what was
said by all parties. All statements are directly attributed to a named individual. Verbatim
minutes are used to capture what passed at disciplinary panels. As with discursive minutes, the
minute-taker is not expected to contribute as this may compromise his/her role as an independent
and objective observer.
Tense
Minutes should be written in the past tense. As they are a record of a discussion that has taken
place, they always refer to an event in the past:
 It was noted that
 The Chair reported
 The Committee agreed that it would
Members noted that the papers couldbe viewed

Minute writing
Structuring minutes
As with any piece of writing, it is important to structure your minutes to make them coherent and
ensure that they flow. Structuring your minutes will not be difficult: as minutes are a
conventional type of document, there is a standard structure with certain items that are expected
regardless of the type of minutes you are writing.
The structure of minutes is provided by the agenda which provides an outline of what will be
discussed and in what order. Regardless of when an item was actually addressed in the meeting,
the minutes should record the discussion and decisions under the appropriate item on the agenda.
The standard items of all minutes are:
 Title: the name of the meeting/ committee/ board, date, location and time;
 List of thosein attendance: Members present, absent with apology, absent without
apology and any guest/s in attendance.
 Preliminaries
This is the introductory part of the meeting. The chairperson calls the meeting to order (time
when the meeting starts id indicated). A prayer may be said. The chairperson mentions the
apologies and welcomes the members.
 Minutes of the previous meeting: These will be read at the meeting where members will
either agree that they were a true record of the previous meeting, or they will note corrections to
be made to the minutes. Here one member proposes and another seconds that they are a true
record.
 Matters arising: confirmation that action points from the previous meeting have been
completed.
 Business of the day: Agenda
 Any other business: this covers discussion of items that were not listed on the agenda;
 Adjournment: there being no other business the meeting was adjourned.
 Date of next meeting: With time and location if appropriate.
 Signing spaces: For the chairperson to sign and indicate the date.