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Minute taking has changed Meeting minutes taking has been around since businessmen and women met to discuss their business. But the writing of meeting minutes is not only a requirement of corporate entities or professional companies; schools, churches, and other large organizations have a secretary on staff who also takes minutes. Professionals, whether they are part of a corporation, a school, or a church, know that effective minute-taking is essential to the smooth running and success of the organization. However, the minute take has been changing with the times.

Just twenty years ago, most of the technologies available in the world today were absent. It is very evident that the minute taking has moved along with technological advancements. Taking minutes today is not the same as twenty years ago; even ten years ago. Today’s effective minute taker makes use of both advances in technology and the changing cultural environment of our world. The effective minute taker moves along with the changing times and stays ahead of the changing curve. Are you sure your organization is recording its minutes in the most effective way today? Here are some points to consider about taking minutes effectively in today’s fast-paced and changing world.

Half the work is on the agenda When most secretaries or staff involved in taking minutes in an organization are asked if the minutes are important to the organization, they will firmly state that they are. However, not many people realize that more than half of the task of taking minutes is done in preparing the agenda. Minute takers today know that the meeting agenda is just as important as the minutes they are going to take. After all, the meeting discussion will take place on the agenda time. The modern and effective minute taker knows that the relationship between the agenda and the meeting minutes is very strong and therefore plays a key role in preparing the agenda.

In fact, it is estimated that between 60% and 70% of the modern minute hand work is done before the meeting begins. That seems to be very different from the “traditional” way of taking minutes in which about 80% of the work is done during the meeting. 60% to 70% involves preparing for taking minutes. Most of this work involves preparing the agenda. The preparation of the agenda will allow you to know the flow of the meeting and thus prepare a document in which your minutes will be drawn up. The other job is to study the previous minutes and the documents distributed so that you can anticipate where the next discussion will lead. Preparing for the meeting in this way will allow you to write down minutes faster during the meeting than you would if you prepared without anticipation.

Laptop vs. Hand The world of business and organization has become much faster since email became mainstream. Businessmen and women in business have become so used to email that they now want all documents to be completed much faster. This desire for speed has also been extended to take minutes. Time is so critical today that slowing down an organization’s progress due to incomplete or slow minutes could lead to serious problems. So the modern minute taker’s task is not to shy away from defeat in the face of this global desire for speed, but to adapt to it and learn to take minutes faster than ever.

The advent of email also brought the laptop with it. The laptop allows you to take minutes much faster than using your hand. Writing is much faster and more efficient than writing. Today’s effective minute taker knows this. Save money for a laptop and learn to type at a speed of at least 40 words per minute. Not only will you be able to take your minutes faster, but you will also be able to correct any errors and make modifications right on your laptop. Are you worried that your writing will upset everyone else in the meeting? You do not have to do it. Laptop keyboards are designed to be much quieter than desktop computers, and typing is virtually silent.

Quick Completion Techniques Today’s time-critical world means that you not only need to score your minutes faster than ever, but you also need to complete them faster than ever. Among the technologies that have been improved over the last twenty years is air transport. Today’s world is much more interconnected than ever. The meetings are held in various cities around the world and many of the participants come from different cities or even different countries. Very few businessmen and women will wait minutes that take a day to complete. All of this means that in order to be an efficient minute taker, you must complete the minutes that day.

You can complete your meeting meetings in the same hour by learning a few techniques. First of all, you have to use a laptop to take your minutes. Typing is faster and much more efficient than typing. Then, because you are writing down words faster as you type, you should use whole words and complete sentences and not shorthand. Using complete words and sentences will ensure that the meeting minutes are completed just as the meeting is ending. All you will need to do is a quick edit after that. But you don’t end there. You can print the meetings and give a copy to each participant. Not only will you have completed all your work in that same moment, but the meeting participants will be delighted to receive the minutes in that same hour and will see you as an efficient minute taker.

Today’s Smart Minute Taker Being an effective minute taker today means more than working quickly and getting minutes on time. You also need to use certain smart techniques to make your work easier. Today, many organizations are adopting the table format for recording minutes. This format allows the minutes to be displayed in a table and makes them easier to read. The way you record minutes is also changing today. With a small number of exceptions, it is no longer necessary to record people’s names and repeat what they said in the meeting discussion. Modern records are action-oriented. They focus solely on actions taken, problems made, and decisions made. They do not record the discussion. Nor should you ever record your meetings. Recording your meetings on tape may seem easier at first, but it actually creates more work than it saves.

Businesses and other organizations survive and die depending on how well they adapt to changes in the market and the general environment. The same applies to today’s minute takers. The world is changing faster than ever. Your ability to stay ahead of the changing curve and stay current is critical to your success. Because your job as a minute taker is so critical to the progress of the organization, it is absolutely essential that you stay one step ahead of the changing world. To be consistently effective, you must keep looking for new ideas and methods to do your job better. You should constantly try alternative methods until you find one that suits modern times. Doing this will ensure that you always remain the effective minute taker.

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