Some people assume that taking minutes is an easy task – well they would be wrong! Taking minutes is a difficult task to complete for someone with little or no experience. As an example, it takes skill and experience to be able to work out whether the conversation the participants are having are essential for record, or general chit chat.
Given the difficulty of minute taking, I thought I would jot down (in no particular order) a few benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant and some important considerations:
Bias – By hiring an external person to come into the office and take minutes of your meeting, they will have an unbiased view and the minutes should reflect that. This is particularly essential when dealing with HR issues, emotive subjects or highly confidential matters.
Participation – Staff who are attending the meeting will need / want to participate in the conversation and don’t want to take the minutes. It is a distraction and people find it difficult to complete both tasks at the same time. This could result in important actions or decisions being missed.
Confidentiality – Having discretion at any meeting is of the utmost of importance. The minute taker is entrusted with detailed information which remains confidential over time. Disclosing information inappropriately inside or outside the workplace can have severe consequences such as fines or legal action.
Compliance – Important decisions are made at meetings. Records of decisions often provide evidence of finer details, for auditing, regulatory and legal reasons. Capturing accurate minutes of certain decisions provides accountability and defines responsibilities.
Accurate and Clear – A set of minutes should be understood whether you attended the meeting or was absent. Anyone should be able to pick the minutes up in 6+ months and still understand what was discussed and decided.
Actions – An action plan can be compiled to clarify who takes lead, how the task will be carried out, and what the deadline and desired outcomes are, if necessary. Alternatively, you can use the minutes at the following meeting as a reminder to those staff who was required to complete a task.
Follow up – In between each meeting, you need dedicated time to follow up. This part is very important as it ensures that all actions are completed before the next meeting. This will keep the organisation on track and not waste time by discussing the same requirements over and over again.
Format – Each organisation has different styles of minutes. Whether they are detailed or just taking note of the actions in bullet points, a good minute taker can adapt to meet your preferred style. This is also adapted to the nature of the meeting. Board, Executive and HR meetings need to be thorough and detailed whereas a team meeting can be more to the point and capture the progress of the team.
Transcription – Minutes are not verbatim. If you require a verbatim record, meetings should be recorded and typed up using digital transcription software (which I can help you with!).
If you require a meeting to be minuted, whether it is a one off or regular meeting I can complete this for you. I take minutes in the Kent and London area, including the Medway Towns which is where I am from. I can take on the full responsibility of the whole process of taking the minutes, the follow up, and all the tasks in-between. Please feel free to contact me to discuss your requirements further.
Zoe Marden set up ZVA in September 2017. ZVA specialises in transcription, minute taking and copy typing. For more information or to discuss your requirements further, please feel free to email info@zva.org.uk.