Minutes

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In this module, you are expected

Module 4: Minutes

Objectives

to learn about the format and the necessary parts of a minutes ；

to write a minutes with correct format and sufficient information.

Minutes

Mr. Jiang asks the managers of all departments to attend a meeting this Friday morning. He hopes to listen to the managers’ reports on the discussions on “flextime system”. Qiu Xiaoyun is also asked to attend the meeting and is assigned the task of taking minutes. Can you help Qiu Xiaoyun to finish this task with the help of the following record of the meeting? (In order to fulfill this task better, you can find some of your classmates and role-play the meeting)

Task

Your Try1

Minutes

What is purpose for people to take meeting minutes?

Who can be the taker of meeting Minutes?Can he or she anyone who speaks at the meeting?

You are divided into several groups. Each group should role-play the above meeting firstly and then discuss the following questions.

Notes:

Do you think it is an effective meeting? Why?

Communicative Activity2

List some kinds of preparation a minutes-taker should get ready to before the meeting.

What should we take down in a meeting minutes?

Minutes

1) Do you think it is an effective meeting? Why? Yes it is an effective meeting. Chair of the meeting controlle

d the meeting very well and everyone attended the meeting stated out their opinions clearly at the meeting.

2) What is purpose for people to take meeting minutes? A minute is a brief summary of proceedings at meetings an

d so are a snapshot of the decisions made and actions agreed at a meeting. The purpose of minutes is to record what was done, not what was said.

Communicative Activity2

Minutes

3) Who can be the taker of meeting minutes? Can he or she anyone who speaks at the meeting?

Usually a minute is taken or produced by the meeting’s secretary but this task isn't reserved for meeting secretary only. Any person who attends a meeting without speaking may be asked to do this.

4) List some kinds of preparation a minutes-taker should get ready to before the meeting.

Firstly, the minutes-taker should prepare for an attendance book in case he doesn’t know someone of the attendants. Secondly, he should get familiar with the meeting agenda. Lastly, if it is possible, he could prepare for a tape-recorder or a recording pen to help him take down the main points of the meeting.

Communicative Activity2

Minutes

3) What should we take down in a meeting minutes?

Although there are different styles of minutes, they have the key information in common. All should cover four basic things: (1) where and when the meeting took place; (2) who was there and who was not; (3) what has been decided for the group; (4) who has agreed to be this or that. Therefore, most minutes can be divided into four parts: heading, body, adjournment time, and signature of the minute’s recorder.

Communicative Activity2

Minutes

Minutes

Date: February 20, 2008, 9:00 a.m.Present: Thomas Jiang, Chairperson

Qian Huilin, manager of Department AChen Zhen, manager of Department BZhang Yan, manager of Department CLi Jing, manager of Department DZhao Qiang, manager of Department E

Apologies for Absence: Mr. Yuan Guojun, manager of Department F

Sample Analysis

Heading

Minutes

The chief item of the meeting:Possibility of carrying out flextime system in the company.

Different opinions:1. Ms. Qian’s opinions: She reported that her people feel happy with the present non-flexible system. She and the staff in her department think it’s hard to cover for others if there was a flextime system.2. Ms. Zhang’s opinions: She suggested to vote on the new proposal. She agreed with the new working system and even suggested to have gap working days.3. Ms. Li’s opinions: She agreed with the flextime system and proposed a new working system, which is called “core times”. Core times, in Ms. Li’s ideas, mean the basic hours one should be in the company.

Sample AnalysisBody

Minutes

Sample Analysis

4. Mr. Chen’s opinion: He agreed with the new working system but disagreed with Ms. Li’s new proposal on “core times”.5. Mr. Zhao’s opinion: Because of the time difference, it’s very hard for Mr. Zhao’s department to carry out flextime system.

AdjournmentThe meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.

Qiu XiaoyunBusiness Assistant

Body

Signature

Minutes

The definition of meeting minutes Minutes of meetings keep permanent and formal records o

f discussions and decisions at meetings. Minute is the written record of a meeting and serves to provide an accurate record of what has been said, discussed and legible to someone who was not present at the meeting. It is an accurate and concise summary of all decision and main points for future reference.

Summary

Minutes

The format of meeting minutesThere’re heading and body parts in a meeting minutes. Generally speaking, they should cover the following points: 1) Kind of meeting (regular, special, general, etc.) 2) Day, date, time, and place of meeting. 3) The word “Minutes”, or the topic of the meeting, in the heading,. 4) Members present. Begin with the presiding officer or chairman.5) Members absent.6) Guests and staff present.7) Time the presiding officer calls the meeting to order.8) Action taken on the last meeting’s Minutes.

Summary

Minutes

The format of meeting minutes9) Speakers’ reports, like Treasurer’s report; Executive officer’s report; Committee reports; Election report; etc.10) Other current business.11) Old business12) New business13) Adjournment – Day, date, and time of next meeting, if announced.14) Signature line for individual signing the minutes.

At last, you should pay attention that there is no complimentary closing at the end of meeting minutes.

Summary

Minutes

Summary

Steps in taking minutes At some point your boss may ask you to take minutes at a meet

ing. Here are some points to help you master this skill.

— Before the Meeting1) Choose your tool: Decide how you will take notes, i.e. pen and

paper, laptop computer, or tape recorder. 2) Make sure your tool of choice is in working order and have a ba

ckup just in case. 3) Use the meeting agenda to formulate an outline.

Minutes

Summary

— During the Meeting1) Pass around an attendance sheet. 2) Get a list of committee members and make sure you know who i

s who. 3) Note the time the meeting begins. 4) Don’t try to write down every single comment—just the main ide

as. 5) Write down motions, who made them, and the results of votes, if

any; no need to write down who seconded a motion. 6) Make note of any motions to be voted on at future meetings. 7) Note the ending time of the meeting.

Minutes

Summary

— After the Meeting1) Type up the minutes as soon as possible after the meeting, while ev

erything is still fresh in your mind. 2) Include the name of organization, name of committee, type of meeti

ng (daily, weekly, monthly, annual, or special), and purpose of meeting.

3) Include the time the meeting began and ended. 4) Proofread the minutes before submitting them.

Minutes

You are provided more meeting minutes to learn by yourself. You can make comparison on the samples according to what have been taught.

Individual Study

Tips

Minutes 1: Minutes of a board meeting

Minutes 2: Minutes of a year-end sales meeting

Minutes 3: Minutes of a monthly meeting

Minutes

Practices

Matching1【 Directions 】 Match the English words and phrases with their proper Chinese Meaning.

( f ) adjournment ( c ) unanimously( a ) call to order ( g ) resolution( h ) in turn ( b ) to second( d ) motion ( i ) proceedings( j ) agenda ( e ) abstain

a. 宣布开会 b. 附议 c. 全体一致地，无异议地 d. 提议 e. 弃权 f. 休会 g. 决议 h. 轮流 i. 会议进程 j. 会议议程

Minutes

1) The minutes of the last meeting, having been previously circulated, were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. 上次会议的会议记录已事先传阅，该会议记录已被确认通过并由主席签字。 2) The meeting suggested inviting experts from Canada to give a training course to all the employees of the company. 与会者一致提议从加拿大聘请专家为公司全体员工开设培训课程。 3) Mr. Zhang volunteered to arrange for estimates to be obtained on the cost of repairs, and report back at the next meeting.张经理自愿安排人员就修理费用作出估价并在下次会议上汇报有关情况。

Practices

Translating2

Minutes

4) The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m. 晚上 8 点 45 分休会。5) There being no further business, the chairperson closed the meeting. 没有其他事项，主席宣布会议结束。 6) 人事部经理陈明强先生未能出席。 Apologies for Mr. Chen Mingqiang, the manager of HR.

7) 请大家就该问题轮流发言。 You can speak on the subject in turn.

Practices

Translating2

Minutes

8) 全体一致同意下次会议于 2009 年 7 月 1 日上午 10 时在会议室举行。 It was agreed that the next meeting will be held on 1st July, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. in the conference room.

9) 主席指出本委员会无权做出这个决定。 The Chairman pointed out that it was not within the Committee’s power to make such a decision.

10) 会上作出了几项任免。 Several appointments and dismissals were announced at the meeting.

Practices

Translating2

Minutes

【 Directions 】 Fill in the blanks with the information given to complete the minutes.a. Winter promotion plansb. Adjournmentc. Apologies for absenced. Date of next meeting e. Monday, 28th July, 2009, at 10:00 a.m.f. To review the sales record in Juneg. Review of the minutes of the previous meeting

Order: 1) e 2) c 3) g 4) a 5) f 6) d 7) b

Practices

Blank-filling3

Minutes

【 Directions 】 Find 3 ～ 4 classmates and hold a meeting to discuss the difficulties in learning business English writing. Take turns to be the Chair and the Secretary of the meeting and write a minutes in English when you are the Secretary. Remember the language you use in the meeting should be only English.

Practices

Writing4