Introduction; 1 Background; The regular meeting; The one-off meeting; Responsibility for the minutes; 2 Arranging a meeting; Who will attend?; Administration; 3 Sections of a meeting; Welcome; Apologies; Committee business; Declarations of interest; Minutes of previous meeting; Matters arising; For information; Agenda items; Any other business; Date of next meeting; 4 Agenda; What to include on the agenda; 5 Personal preparation; Read the agenda; Read the papers; Talk to the chairperson; Talk to the contributors; Talk to others; Consider who's who Confirm the administrative arrangementsRemind reception of visitors to your meeting; Get the equipment together; Signed minutes; Last-minute minute-taker; Personal preparation checklist; 6 Attending the meeting; Where to sit; Finding out who's who; Not understanding; Hearing; Minuting an argument; Skivvying; Coping with numbers/figures; Maintaining concentration and focus; The five things you MUST get in the meeting (asking later is too late); Contributing minute-taker; 7 Working effectively with the chairperson and group; Build a good relationship with the chairperson Building a good relationship with the groupDemonstrating confidence and competence; 8 Taking notes; The mechanics of writing; How to take notes; Look as well as listen; The message, not the words; Developing the skill; 9 Structuring notes; Follow the agenda; Depth of minutes; Structuring your notes; Using the structure; If you have taken notes on a laptop; 10 Writing up the minutes; Speeding up the process; Inserting variable information; Writing the minutes; If you can't type the minutes for a few days; If you need help; Get the chairperson's approval Don't take amendments until the next meeting11 The minutes; Heading; Who attended; Introduction; Declarations of interest; Committee business; Minutes of the previous meeting; Matters arising (or updates on actions); Information items; Main agenda items; Any other business; Date of next meeting; Close of meeting; Common questions about minutes; Useful words for minutes; 12 Recording decisons and actions; The action triangle; When they decide to do nothing; When there is no outcome; Layout of action points; When there are several actions for one minute; Managing an action log 13 Layout and numberingLayout; Look at the picture; 14 Minutes for different types of meeting; HR meetings; Case conferences / best-interest or multi-disciplinary meetings; Team or open meetings; The one-off or ad hoc meeting; The negotiation meeting; Video/audio conferencing; Board meetings.