Meetings have become an important criterion for any business and this has increased the demand for business transcription service also, to transcribe meeting recordings into accurate notes. The recorded notes can be circulated among other officials and team members.
The purpose of a business meeting is to exchange information, make informed decisions, negotiate, resolve conflicts, review progress, solve organizational issues and interact with external stakeholders. Conducting a well-planned meeting could bring considerable benefits for any company. Similarly, it is important for meeting participants to make the most out of the meeting to be more productive.
Most of the time, candidates walk out of the meeting not remembering anything discussed during the meeting. This could be because the meeting leaders did not conduct the meeting properly or because the participants did not take any notes. The solution for the first issue is not in the hands of the participants but the latter can be solved by improving note-taking skills. So, here are some tips on how to take notes and make the most of the meeting.
- Jotting down notes: The points discussed during the meeting could be for the participants alone or to be shared among the team members. So, it is the responsibility of the participants to pay attention to all the crucial decisions made during the meeting and pass on the information to the team members. The effective way to do so is by taking down the main points of the meetings that can be distributed among your team members.
- Preparing to jot down: Before you start taking down the points, it is important to get comfortable and make up your mind to attend the meeting. Also, make a small framework about how you are planning to write down the points. Here are some tips that you can consider to develop the framework:
- Think about who is going to read the notes, your colleagues or external partners or team members etc and what they expect you to communicate with them after the meeting.
- Go through the agenda of the meeting to shape your notes template before the meeting.
- Consider the insights that your team is expecting from your notes like task lists etc.
- During the meeting: Conducting the meeting effectively provides an opportunity for the meeting participants to contribute their ideas. Here are some tips to conduct the meeting the right way.
- Instruct the meeting attendees not to bring their device to the meeting rooms so that there won’t be any distractions during the meeting.
- Assign a person to take down the notes or you can also go for AI-assisted note taking to keep note of the key points discussed in the meeting. It helps to keep the attendees engaged.
- Do not get distracted by the side talks, unnecessary gossips or office politics that can damage the purpose of the meeting.
- Sticking to the meeting agenda helps to keep the meeting on track and also helps to cover all the important points that should be discussed on the meeting.
- Keep in mind that the attendees of the meeting are your team members, so share your notes so that it is easier for them to understand, and avoid the use of complicated words or phrases.
- After the meeting: Once the meeting is over, the next step is collecting all the facts, quotes, tasks etc and make proper notes that can be distributed to the team members.
- Make sure to distribute the notes on time, do not waste too much time refining your notes.
- Send the notes through the right channel like emails, or you may consider project management apps like Asana or Microsoft Teams.
- Before sending out the notes, review your notes with the help of a fellow meeting attendee whose opinion matters. This will minimize the chances of getting any criticism.
- Be prepared to face any criticism and you can also consider the transcripts prepared by a transcription service to settle any disagreements.
To make note-taking easier, consider using meeting templates. The following are the benefits of using meeting templates:
- Templates can be altered as per the requirement of the meeting or the need of the company.
- Sharing the template with the participants gives them an idea about what the meeting is all about.
- Templates are handy and ensure that the meeting concludes well within the estimated time limit and does not drag on.
Given below are some of the free meeting note templates:
- Team Meeting Minutes
[Team Meeting]
[Date] / [Time] / [Location]
Attendees
[x]
Agenda
Last Meeting Follow-up
- [Add your text here.]
New Business
- [Add your text here.]
- [Add your text here.]
Notes
- [Add your text here.]
- [Add your text here.]
- [Add your text here.]
- [Add your text here.]
- [Add your text here.]
Action Items
- [Add your text here.]
- [Add your text here.]
Next Meeting Agenda
- [Add your text here]
- Formal Meeting Minutes
[Company]/ [Department Name]
Meeting Minutes
[Date]
-
- Call to order
Facilitator Name called to order the regular meeting of the Organization/Committee Name at the time on date at location. - Roll call
Secretary Name conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: attendee names
- Call to order
- Approval of minutes from the last meeting
Secretary Name read the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were approved as read. - Open issues
a) Open issue/summary of the discussion
b) Open issue/summary of the discussion
c) Open issue/summary of the discussion - New business
a) New business/summary of the discussion
b) New business/summary of the discussion
c) New business/summary of the discussion - Adjournment
Facilitator Name adjourned the meeting at the time.
Minutes submitted by: Name
Minutes approved by: Name
- Organization Meeting Minutes
[Organization/Committee Name]
Meeting Minutes
[Date]
Opening
The regular meeting of the [Organization/Committee Name] was called to order at [time] on [date] in [location] by [Facilitator Name].
Present
[Attendee names]
Approval of Agenda
The agenda was [unanimously approved as distributed.]
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting were [unanimously approved as distributed.]
Open Issues
[Summarize the discussion for each existing issue, state the outcome, and assign any action item.]
New Business
[Summarize the discussion for new issues, state the next steps, and assign any action item.]
Agenda for Next Meeting
[List the items to be discussed at the next meeting.]
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at [time] by [Facilitator Name]. The next general meeting will be at [time] on [date], in [location].
Minutes submitted by:
Name:
Approved by:
Name
- Classic Meeting Minutes
Call to order
A meeting of [Organization or Team name] was held at [Location] on [Date]. Attendees included [list attendee names]. Members not in attendance included [list names].
Approval of minutes
[Replace any placeholder text with your own. For best results, don’t include space to the left or right of the characters, including the brackets, in your selection.]
Reports
[Add your text here.]
Unfinished business
[Add your text here.]
Motion
[Add your text here.]
New Business
[Add your text here.]
Announcements
[Add your text here.]
Adjournment
[Add your text here.]Secretary
Date of approval
All of these templates can be downloaded from Google Docs version.
Meetings are a necessity for any organization. It helps to direct your team towards the right goal. A meeting also requires the assistance of business transcription services to record all the crucial decisions made during the meetings and transcribe them into accurate notes so that it can be passed on to the team members for future reference.
