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Atherton Training Consultants LtdMinute Taking Training Course - one day - on-site training in taking minutes of meetings |
TAKING and WRITING MINUTES TRAININGCourses for up to 12 people at your premises. Companies and organisations only. No public courses. Email direct to Tony Atherton or phone 07976-390960
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Minute Taking - training at your premises for up to 12 peopleThis one-day in-company course is run at your premises for up to 12 delegates. It shows how to make taking minutes at meetings easier. Taking the minutes of a meeting can be tough and many people try to avoid it as they see it as a thankless task. But, it can be made easier if you understand the processes involved and how to use them to help you.COURSE AIM - Taking and Writing Minutes - Full dayTo help delegates to take and write better minutes of meetings and to do so faster and more easily. It covers working with the Chair, preparation, summarising, formatting the agenda and the minutes, taking good (but not copious) notes and turning the notes into clear and concise minutes. Lessons learned are applicable to most types of meetings. This is a popular course in both the public and private sectors, and with both junior and more senior staff. Minute taking practice is built into the course. Organisational benefits of 'Taking and Writing Minutes' include: better minutes - often shorter too, better communications and a saving in time and effort for Chairs and committee members as well as minute takers. IS THERE A TRACK RECORD?There is. Tony presented his first course in Minute Taking on 16 November 1998 for a group of 11 delegates at Railtrack in Swindon. Since then he has run the course for housing associations, colleges, councils, Oxfam, the Salvation Army, Birmingham Midshires, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratories, the Greater London Council, Birmingham LSC, Coventry LSC, and many others. Although Tony now only presents this course on his own behalf he has, in the past, presented it many times on behalf of Reed Training and Fielden-Cegos Training. COURSE CONTENT - Taking and Writing Minutes - Full day
COURSE DESCRIPTION - Taking and Writing Minutes
PRACTICE SESSIONS
TRAINING STYLE Taking and Writing MinutesThe training style uses a mixture of talks, discussions, group work and individual work in a mix that is as appropriate as possible to the delegates. Video sessions are used for practice. The actual course may differ slightly from the fine details above as the training is adjusted to match as accurately as possible the needs of the delegates. Delegates are asked to help one another to achieve their action plans. Full course notes are provided which also serve as reference books for later. The normal maximum number of delegates is 12.THE TRAINER Taking and Writing MinutesTony Atherton has been presenting Minute Taking courses since 1998, often to small groups, and has helped about 600 delegates with taking minutes.As a training consultant and published writer, Tony draws on a career in both the public and private sectors including employment in the Royal Navy, GEC-Marconi, the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the University of Hong Kong. For five years he was the Training Manager at NTL. Since 1997 he has been an independent trainer and writer. As a published writer he has four books and around 90 articles to his name. He has trained thousands of delegates from blue-chip organisations and runs this one-day on-site course at clients' premises usually for up to 12 delegates. It has been run nearly 70 times for a total of nearly 600 delegates. It has occasionally been run as a half-day course. He has also inspected government-funded training on behalf of the Training Standards Council and the Adult Learning Inspectorate. OTHER INFORMATIONThe smallest course was for Mercury Health in Reading for just two delegates, although one for the Drugs and Homeless Initiative, a charity based in Bath, ran it very close with three delegates. Seven or eight are more normal numbers. At the other end of the spectrum was a contribution to an Away Day for the Worcestershire Schools Governor Services where we almost filled a ballroom with a bite-size fun-filled session for 86 people. Who are typical delegates? There are different types of "typical" delegates. Many are young people who have never taken minutes before and will be starting with team meetings. Others have some experience and take minutes at departmental meetings, governor meetings and even board meetings. Some minute sensitive meetings such as in child welfare services or disciplinary hearings. All usually have two things in common: they have a tough task to perform and have never had any training in minute taking. Even experienced PAs have attended the course. Most delegates learn a huge amount which they then apply at work, which is why the course is so gratifying to run. Possibly one of the hardest lessons to learn is that perfectly good minutes can be produced without scribbling down everything that is said at the meeting. The practice sessions, using carefully selected video sequences, are an important step in improving this skill. Another hard issue to cope with is trying to prioritise when you simply do not understand what people are talking about. Why do a few experienced PAs come on the course? Usually they have taken minutes for years and the course is not aimed at them. So why attend? What they tell me is that minute taking is often a lonely discipline; maybe they will pick up a few tips. Usually they do but, most importantly, they get reassurance. One of the most important learning areas of the course is the need to build a relationship between the Minute Taker and the Chair. A Chair who acts like a Victorian father, believing that minute takers should be seen and not heard, can be a nightmare to work with. In the best circumstances, the relationship is more like a partnership - how do we achieve that? A good chair is a great help to the minute taker, and vice versa. Being a good chair involves more than merely running the meeting. All in all, the course produces real benefits for the minute taker and for the organisation. It solves some problems and builds confidence. Chairs will need to give time to the minute taker but will ultimately save their own time and therefore the organisation's money. Generally, minutes will be shorter but better, more focussed on what really matters for that committee - thus saving time for committee members and other users. 'Was dreading today, however I have gained a lot from this course [on taking minutes].'
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Call 07976-390960 E-mail Tony Atherton Trainer and writer Writing courses: Negotiation courses: Time management courses: Articles The Trainer Home
Clients Client organisations for all subjects over the years include:
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CONTACT US: E-mail direct to Tony Atherton Phone 07976-390960 Covers: United Kingdom |
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Taking Minutes: Last updated 23 August 2008 |
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