Agenda and Minutes

A. Hossell

MinutesMinutes are formal, precise

and concise records of meetings.

Its purpose is to ensure that the meeting is correctly documented and that there is no discrepancy as to who attended, what was discussed and what was decided.

The Format

The opening sentence includes the date, time, and place of the meeting.

The following numbered headings are written against the left-hand margin:

1.Members Present2.Apologies (from those who could not

attend)3.Minutes of the previous meeting

4. Matters arising from the Agenda

5. General

6. Date of the next meeting

7. Time that the meeting was terminated

Agenda

A plan of what is going to happen / going to be discussed in a meeting.

Tips to write a good agenda

1. Circulate the agenda in advance

Its amazing how many people turn up to meetings that they don’t even know what they are for.

Every meeting should have an agenda

2. Write the name of the meeting at the top of the agenda

Simple but it’s the most important thing – what is the name of this meeting?

Make sure your meeting is useful and informative – avoid the obvious – “weekly ACME meeting” doesn’t really tell us much – “Weekly HR review meeting” – is more useful.

3. Include the start and end time

Everyone wants to know how long the meeting will be for.

Provide people with an expected time of how long the meeting will be.

4. Include an agenda item for ‘Any Other Business’ (or AOB for short) at the end of the agenda

Having this item allow you to postpone any discussions you don’t want to have until the end of the meeting.

This helps to keep the meeting on track.

5. Number each agenda item

Typically you will need to refer to each item on the agenda – a simple number by each one means everyone, even those not paying full attention, can keep track of what is going on.