Admittedly, taking minutes of a meeting is not exactly one of the favorite tasks in professional life for many people. But taking notes is important so that the conversation can be understood later – especially by those who are not present. We explain how you should write professional minutes, what types of minutes there are, and how taking notes is best done.
The different types of minutes
Basically, we all learned how to write minutes back in school. Every transcript in class is a kind of protocol. Taking minutes of lectures is also part of everyday life at university. In professional life, taking minutes of meetings and conversations is usually an occasional task entrusted to you by your boss or colleagues. Nevertheless, it is then helpful to know what kind of minutes you are expected to write and how to go about it accordingly.
Mostly the type of protocol depends on the content of the conversation. As a rule, a Result protocol, but in the case of important negotiations, a detailed Progress Log be requested. If you have mastered these two forms of transcription, you will usually be able to cope with them in all situations.
There are still a few special forms, like the Shorthand or the Word protocol, but the principle remains the same when writing any protocol: there is a process that is described in more or less detail as needed.
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The results protocol
The record of results is oriented toward the results of an observation, discussion, or even meeting and does not reflect any speech, but merely provides Core statements and Resolutions Of the meeting or conversation. Consequently, speaking contributions are arranged in categories and the same contributions from different speakers are grouped together. You should leave out irrelevant thoughts, digressions and unnecessary statements and not include them in the minutes.
The minutes of the meeting are always Present written and all important points are summarized in bullet points and in a logical order. If you want to do it correctly, you can create a progress report as a basis for the result protocol and summarize the results after the meeting. The result protocol is particularly suitable for conferences and discussions, which contain resolutions, with which the arguments on the way are however not decisive. Your transcript should give anyone who reads it a quick overview of the results of the negotiation.
Writing a protocol: Structure of a results protocol
- Minutes header (date, place, start and end, participants and absentees, your name).
- If available, a flowchart can be given.
- Factual and objective description of the results of the meeting.
- The speakers are usually not mentioned by name.
- Signature of the minute taker and the chairman of the meeting.
- If there are attachments to a discussion (copies, documents, handouts), you must name and add them as attachments. If online sources are involved, they are best indicated with date of access.
When writing a result protocol it is particularly important to put your attention on an objective representation, since the result protocol is susceptible to subjective contents (selection and representation of the results).
In any case, express yourself objectively, the emotional states of the individual speakers do not belong in a professional note. Even if you do not agree with a decision, avoid making a note of it.
The progress protocol
The progress log shows the course of an event or a meeting. This means that, in contrast to the results protocol, it shows which Speeches were expressed at the meeting.
You should reproduce the individual statements of the speakers as accurately as possible and record them in time.
The minutes of the proceedings, like the minutes of the results, are always in the Present tense written and structured in bullet points. You can write whole speeches in indirect speech reproduce. The progress log is particularly suitable for club meetings or meetings and meetings where certain results are obtained through argumentative discussions. But also in the field of natural sciences it is useful to choose this form, because all processes can be recorded exactly.
Speeches are mentioned because resolutions, opinions and conclusions should always remain comprehensible and thus a lead-in is necessary.
Writing minutes: Structure of a progress protocol
- Protocol header (date, place, start and end, participants and absentees, your name).
- Mention the individual items on the agenda, if there is one.
- Concise, factual and objective description of the decisions and how they were reached. Thus not only results are taken down, but also their developing process.
- Signature of the keeper of the minutes/you and the chairman of the meeting.
- If there are attachments to a discussion (copies, documents, handouts), you should include them. Online sources are also best indicated here with the date of access.
Minutes of proceedings are particularly advantageous when individual trains of thought or observations are to be reproduced exactly.
Be especially careful not to be too verbose and not to reproduce the protocol unclear to be able to. This happens more quickly with this type of transcript than with the minutes of results, which is due to the fact that the minutes of proceedings are always written chronologically, which is why digressions can disrupt a stringent sequence.
In any case, express yourself factually; the emotional states of individual speakers do not belong in a professional memo. Even if you do not agree with a decision, avoid a note about it.
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The verbatim protocol
The Verbatim protocol is a special form of the History log and does what its name suggests: it reproduces the wording and attempts to record all statements.
It is used for example in court hearings. All testimonies are recorded in the wording is used to create an overview of the hearing, even in retrospect. Here an abbreviation by the minute writer would be even hindering, since often it is not clear, which statements play a role for the process in the retrospect. Political debates in the Bundestag are also often recorded in verbatim minutes.
It is important that you follow the usual rules of citation when taking verbatim notes, so that all statements can be assigned to the individual parties to the conversation afterwards. Especially in the case of disputed questions or statements, such evidence is sometimes decisive in retrospect.
Writing minutes: Structure of a verbatim protocol
- Minutes header (date, place, start and end, participants and absentees, your name).
- Detailed, accurate, and objective account of the negotiation or conversation.
- Furthermore, all non-speaking aspects are named – such as z.B. Interference and nonverbals.
- Signature of the keeper of the minutes and the chairman of the meeting.
This form of transcript writing is ideal for following a conversation almost "live". For it a minute taker should however Shorthand Master (rapid-fire) writing to be able to put all statements in writing in the first place.
However, the verbatim protocol can become quite confusing, as the information and statements are recorded chronologically, making it difficult to maintain order.
The short protocol
A short protocol records, similar to the result protocol, only the decisions made, resolutions and results. It’s often referred to as a slimmed down form of the result protocol View. Who masters the writing of a result protocol as well as a progress protocol, masters also all sub- and mixed forms without problems.
You can document the contributions in a short protocol in a highly condensed form. But make sure that nothing is changed in the content sense. Your own comments and interpretations will, of course, fall away with this form of minute taking.
Writing minutes: Structure of a short protocol:
- Minutes header (date, place, start and end, participants and absentees, your name).
- Factual and objective description of the results of the meeting.
- The speakers are not mentioned by name.
- Signature of the keeper of the minutes and the chair of the meeting.
- If there are attachments to a discussion, you can add them. If it concerns on-line sources, these are to be indicated best with access date.
When writing short minutes, it is especially important to remain subjective and not to write down the results based on your own opinion. Always express yourself factually, the emotional states of the individual speakers do not belong in the short protocol.
General tips for writing minutes
After you have received some information about the different types of minutes and learned how to write them correctly, we would like to give you a few general tips and advice on how to write minutes correctly.