Minute taker

 The term "minute taker" refers to a person who records all relevant minutes during meetings or conferences. Minute takers are often required to transcribe reports by the conference organizer. Takers also may have to record minutes on location and in other times. Most moment takers rely on a tape recorder to make the final transcribing process. Other options for making transcription include using an overhead scanner, with a computer or voice recorder. The objective of this article is to highlight some key issues in relation to the role of minute takers.

Minutes of a meeting will usually be transcribed in the most relevant meeting minutes by the minute taker. These can be gathered into a file that's stored on the individual's hard drive or portable media device. It is the responsibility of the meeting organizer to keep all meeting minutes on file which can then be retrieved by any member of the organization at any time.

Most moment takers are expected to provide fully formatted minutes following each meeting. However, minutes are not just a record of what was said at the meeting; rather they are a document containing a summary of all the critical points that meeting attendees discussed and, sometimes, any agreement reached. All of the minutes should be filed based on the particular format specified by each individual assembly. Essentially, the minutes of a meeting ought to be kept in a sequential order.

When preparing for a meeting, it's usual for the minute taker to compile notes. These notes are used by the meeting organizers to generate reports from the assembly. The notes should contain an overview of the assembly, relevant information about the people present at the meeting, and any agreement reached. The formats which the minutes are prepared in are not fixed and may vary between encounters.

The typical minutes formats include headings, subheading, table of contents, outline paragraph, notes section and conclusion. The first couple of lines of this summary paragraph of this meeting should contain a brief summary of the schedule of the meeting. After this, the achievement lines provide more information about the attendees, including name, address, phone number, email address and the short contact information. The notes section may contain the names and contacts of the speaker and the other speakers that were in attendance. The meeting summary paragraph may end with a brief recommendation to the group or to the individual speaker, the speaker's name, and a date and time for a meeting or conference call to be held.

The minutes of previous meetings are referred to as previous minutes and these provide additional information regarding topics discussed at previous meetings. The first couple of lines of the last minutes describe the character of the meeting and its purpose. Subsequently, the names of the present attendees and the attendees who have requested not to attend, and their telephone numbers and addresses are recorded. The summary paragraph is made from the issues discussed in the meeting and it indicates the outcome of the discussion. The minutes of the last meeting are referred to as closing minutes and are used to report the results of the meeting, as well as to make recommendations to future meetings.

The use of the minutes taker involves preparing minutes for a meeting whose main aim is to review activities and issues that occurred and to identify the activities and responsibilities of each presenter, including their function and date of presentation. The format of the minutes of a meeting whose main aim is to review issues and actions, includes the preparation of minutes from the chairperson or by the organising committee or one player, including explanations of the moments. Minutes of a meeting whose objective is to develop procedures and policies must be drafted by one of more than 1 person. These moments are drafted following agreement by all participants and speakers, such as the organising committee. The minutes of a meeting whose purpose is to analyze management policies and processes have to be drafted by one of the members of the organising committee with the consent of the other members of this committee, including the speaker of the afternoon.

The function of a minute taker can be described as follows: to take minutes of meetings as they occur; to draft minutes of these meetings following the events have passed; and to make certain that minutes of these meetings are correct. To do so, the taker has to be aware of the goals of the meeting and of the concerns and issues which arose and that were discussed during the meeting. The minute taker must also listen attentively to the speaker and also to some questions put to him or her and must draft a summarisation of the discussion and decisions of the meeting, including their own views. All these are important as they form the basis of the minutes of the meeting and help to establish the efficacy of the meeting.