Meetings are held every day in the company, but there may be times when the member is not possible to attend a meeting due to scheduling conflicts. In such cases, if there are minutes of each meeting, even absent members can confirm the content of the meeting.
However, many people may be concerned that they do not need the minutes because they do not make full use of them in their company.
In this issue, we will introduce the meaning and purpose of creating meaningful minutes, as well as tips on how to get them utilized within your company for below people.
- “Actually, I do not know what it means to create minutes.”
- “My boss has assigned me to take minutes, but I have no idea what they will look like when they are utilized.”
- “We concern that there is no system in place to utilize the minutes within the company.”
If so, this article will help you understand the significance of minutes and provide hints for creating an environment in which they can be utilized.
Contents
- 1 3 requirements for good minutes
- 2 5 tips to make meaningful minutes in your team
- 3 2 reasons why members do not look back in minutes
- 4 What is the meaning and purpose of minutes?
- 5 Basic items to be included in the minutes
- 6 Best tool for the easiest way to manage minutes
- 7 Summary of how to create the meaningful minutes and tips
3 requirements for good minutes
If you clarify the requirements for good minutes, you can create documents that are easy for readers to understand. The following tips will help you create minutes in a short amount of time.
Condition 1｜Clear conclusion
It is important that the conclusion of the meeting is immediately apparent when the minutes are reviewed.
This is because the time available for reviewing minutes is limited. To ensure that even the busiest employees can accurately grasp the content of the meeting, avoid using roundabout phrases and keep the information you want to convey concise.
Condition 2｜The decision-making process can be followed.
The decision-making process should be easily grasped in the minutes for utilization.
The minutes also play a role in clarifying responsibilities, and it is important to include the statements of employees involved in the decision-making process. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately record the decision-making process by clearly stating “whose suggestions were adopted and what kind of suggestions were adopted” and “who made the final decision”.
Be sure to include the flow of the conversation to prevent problems surrounding statements such as discrepancy and misunderstanding.
Condition 3｜Everyone can read and understand
Create minutes that anyone can read and understand.
A typical example of a bad minute is one in which only those present at the meeting can understand the content. If the process leading up to the conclusion is omitted or there are no supplementary explanations, absentees will not be able to accurately grasp the content of the meeting.
Therefore, before submitting the minutes, check whether “the flow of the meeting was accurately described” and “there are no omissions in the supplementary explanation of terms”, and make sure that the material can be understood by anyone who reads it.
5 tips to make meaningful minutes in your team
Minutes are not the end of the process after creating; it is important that they are read by as many employees as possible. Below are 5 tips for creating minutes that will be used within your company.
(1) Prepare thoroughly
First of all, creating meaningful minutes requires careful preparation in advance. This is because if you participate in the meeting without preparation, you will concentrate on following what is said and will not be able to grasp the main points of the meeting.
Below are 5 steps you need to take to prepare before the meeting.
- Understand the purpose of the meeting
- Review past meeting minutes and preliminary documents
- Guess the type of meeting
- Prepare a template for the minutes
- Prepare tools to reduce the burden of notes
First, understand the purpose of the meeting to get an accurate picture of the day’s flow. As a result, you will know “what to prepare” and be able to take action, preventing possible problems on the day of the meeting.
Next, check the minutes of past meetings to get the background of the agenda and the flow of the proceedings. If you have time to spare, you can also look over the materials provided in advance to get a more concrete picture of the flow of the meeting.
Meetings can be divided into 2 types: “report-type” and “discussion-type”, so find out which type your next meeting falls into.
In the case of “report-type meetings”, minutes can be formulated and past documents can be used as a reference. On the other hand, the discussion type requires that you understand the main topics by predicting how the discussion will proceed and the conclusions from the agenda.
Next, prepare a template for the minutes. Prepare a template with items such as “agenda, date, time, place, content, decisions, and concerns” to clarify what should be noted during the meeting.
Finally, prepare tools to reduce the burden of creating minutes. If you are too occupied with following the discussion, you will miss the main topics of meeting, so you need IT tools that allow you to take notes easily.
However, if you introduce a multifunctional IT tool, it will take time to learn its functions, which may actually increase the burden. Therefore, choose a tool like Stock, which is intuitive and easy to use, and can be operational from the day it is introduced.
If you follow the 5 steps above to prepare for the preparation of meeting minutes, you can prevent situations such as “forgot to write down the necessary information for the minutes”.
(2) Create the minutes with the reader in mind
Next, it is necessary to envision who will use the minutes and how they will be used.
If you have a specific image of the reader, you will be able to clarify the necessary elements of the minutes. For example, if the minutes are to be viewed by new employees, it is important to supplement technical terms.
Thus, to make the minutes easy to read, imagine the reader specifically before preparing the minutes.
(3) Be aware of 5W1H framework
The next tip for taking minutes is to be aware of the 5W1H framework.
The 5W1H framework is a collective term for “Who,” “When,” “Where,” “What,” “Why,” and “How.” By including this information, you can create minutes that are easy for the reader to understand.
Therefore, to ensure that the reader can read through the minutes without burden, information should be included in line with the 5W1H framework.
Minutes should be created and shared immediately after the meeting.
As time passes, memories fade, so minutes should be taken while they are still fresh in members mind. Speedy sharing is also required, as delays in sharing meeting content may interfere with business operations.
Therefore, to ensure that accurate information is delivered promptly, try to create and share the minutes immediately after the meeting.
Finally, to increase the utilization of the minutes, share them in a place where the information is easily accessible.
If the minutes are on paper, they can only be viewed internally, so they cannot be shared immediately with employees who are on the road or remote working. On the other hand, if IT tool are used, they can be used without being restricted by time or location, so they can be exchanged in real time.
For example, in the case of chat tools such as Chat app, it takes time to find the necessary minutes because of the flow of information, and in the case of online storage, it is inefficient to open each file and check its contents every time.
If you choose an IT tool for creating and sharing minutes, make sure it is one that allows you to utilize the minutes without burden, such as Stock, which provides instant access to the information you need.
2 reasons why members do not look back in minutes
One of the reasons why people do not look back in taking minutes is the low utilization rate. There are 2 possible reasons for the low utilization rate.
- Low quality of minutes
- Burdens in sharing minutes
Low quality of minutes leads to low utilization. An example of low quality is that the format of the minutes is not standardized within the company, and the items are written in an individualized manner.
Low-quality minutes are judged to be meaningless even if read, resulting in low utilization rates.
If there are burdens to sharing minutes, the utilization rate will decrease. An example of a burden is the time-consuming process of creating an email each time minutes are shared.
If it takes time to share the minutes, the information will be less fresh and less useful. As a result, the utilization rate of the minutes will also decline.
The above two points are the reasons why minutes are not utilized within a company.
The premise is that minutes are materials to be shared with those who are not present, so it is not advisable to abolish the task of taking minutes. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the purpose of the minutes for team organization.
What is the meaning and purpose of minutes?
Minutes play an important role in making a positive impact on your team. The following will help you properly understand the purpose of minutes.
Create a common understanding of decisions
The main purpose of taking minutes is to create a common understanding of the decisions made at the meeting.
If minutes are not taken, some employees may not be able to grasp the content of the meeting, which could hinder business progress. In addition, even those present at the meeting may find it difficult to remember the content, and as a result, work may be omitted.
In other words, taking minutes creates a common understanding, which has a positive impact on both absentees and attendees.
Clarify next actions
Through the sharing of minutes, next actions can be clarified.
In an environment where minutes are not shared, it is impossible to get an accurate picture of the direction of your company, department, or team. However, if the minutes are shared within the company, the team will be able to set guidelines based on an understanding of the decisions made at the management meeting.
Once the team’s guidelines are set, “what to do now” becomes clear, making it easier to take the next action. In this way, the minutes are a defining part of the next task.
Encouraging growth of new employee in minutes preparation
The person responsible for the minutes can gain knowledge and skills in the process of creating them.
Some of the skills that can be acquired through minute taking include knowledge of the agenda and the ability to summarize content. These skills can then be used in all aspects of business, including the preparation of sales materials.
In this way, minutes can also help employees improve their skills.
Basic items to be included in the minutes
The basic items that should be included in the minutes include as below.
| Items | Notes |
|---|---|
Agenda | Be simple and concise titles to understand at a glance what discussing about. |
Date and Place | You can easily look back after meeting and organize the past minutes by recording when and where the meeting held. |
Attendees | To take action smoothly after meeting, record the attendees of the meeting. |
Contents of meeting | Write the contents with information based on the notes of meeting. If you set header to topic name of contents, the member will be able to understand them easily. |
Decisions | The member can understand with ease by the contents that are wrote concisely and concretely with using bullet point. |
Matters of concern | You should write the contents divided into decisions and matters that are items of concerning in meeting. |
In addition to the above, add items as appropriate to ensure that no omissions are made in the minutes.
Best tool for the easiest way to manage minutes
Below is the best IT tool for creating, sharing, and managing meeting minutes.
Speed of sharing and accessibility of information are important to increase the utilization of minutes. Prompt improvement is required, as a delay in sharing meeting minutes can hinder business operations and make it difficult for employees to utilize the information if they are not decided in where they can view them.
Therefore, introducing an “information sharing tool for creating, sharing, and managing meeting minutes” can solve all the problems associated with paper and e-mail management. In particular, if the tool is easy to use, there is no training cost, and it can be put into operation immediately.
In conclusion, you should use Stock, which can be used even by any one unfamiliar with IT and has all the necessary functions for creating, sharing, and managing minutes.
Minutes taken in “Note” of Stock are shared in real time, making it easy to communicate information to employees who are out of the office. In addition, the search function provides instant access to the minutes you need, making it easy to make the most of the minutes.
Stock｜A tool that any member in a non-IT company can quickly master
The simplest tool to stock information "Stock"
https://www.stock-app.info/en/
Stock is the simplest tool to stock information. Stock solves the problem, "there is no easy way to stock information within the company".
With Stock, anyone can easily store all kinds of information, including text information such as requirements, images, and files, using the Note feature.
In addition, by using the "Task" and "Message" functions, you can communicate with each topic described in the Note, so that information is not dispersed here and there and work can always be carried out in an organized manner.
＜Why do we recommend Stock?＞
- A tool for companies that are not familiar with ITYou don't need to have any IT expertise to get started.
- Simple and usable by anyoneStock is so simple that anyone can use it without any unnecessary features.
- Amazingly easy information storing and task managementIt is amazingly easy to store information such as shared information within a company, and intuitive task management is also possible.
＜Stock's pricing＞
- Free plan ：Free
- Business plan ：$5 / User / Month
- Enterprise plan ：$10 / User / Month
Summary of how to create the meaningful minutes and tips
We have introduced the meaning and purpose of minutes, as well as tips on how to create the meaningful minutes in your company.
Minutes serve the purpose of creating a common understanding, but if they are kept on paper, there are only so many places where they can be shared. When they are shared via e-mail, it is time-consuming to attach them to an e-mail each time, and as a result, the burdens to their utilization are heavy.
Therefore, introducing an “information sharing tool that allows users to create, share, and manage meeting minutes” will create an environment that facilitates the use of documents. Unlike chat tools or online storage, it is convenient because you can find the information you need quickly and check the contents without opening file every time.
Simple enough that even any member in a non-IT company can start using it the same day it is introduced, Stock introduced here is a tool that allows you to start creating, sharing, and managing meeting minutes immediately.
Free registration takes only 1 minute, so using Stock to optimize your management of meeting minutes and solve the burden of sharing information.
