Minutes
The details below explain how to write minutes.
Identifying people in the minutes
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Depersonalise minutes by avoiding the use of names for external meetings. Instead say:
- The Chair introduced new members to the group.
- Following discussion about the new application cycle it was agreed that
- A member of the group asked if
- The Director of Operations explained that
- If a member of the group disagrees with a decison, use their name to record their dissent, if it is necessary to make this point.
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When someone presents their report, the introductory sentence in the minute could read:
- Chris Wallace, Head of Product Management, introduced the group to Digital Acceleration.
- Internal meeting – use the initials of attendees and indicate the initials used in brackets after their names in the list of attendees.
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Action points:
- action on UCAS – use initials plus reference
- action on non-UCAS – use 'All' or 'Chair' plus reference
- For non-attendees, state their name followed by their job title or organisation in brackets.
- Terms such as 'members' and 'delegates' can be used as the collective noun. It is better to depersonalise the minutes.
Follow a narrative for each minute
- background
- discussion
- decision
- actions – clearly identify the actions, stating the timescale, where appropriate, and initials in the action column
Use the correct tense
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Must always be in the perfect (past) tense:
- It was reported that UCAS would raise the application fee to £24 for the next cycle.
- It was explained that applicants were able to track their application online.
- It was agreed that requests for nominations for the new Chair would be sent to members before the end of October.
- The Chair undertook to advise delegates of the date of the next meeting before the end of June.
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or in the pluperfect tense – to report something that happened before the time of the meeting being minuted:
- It was reported that the Director of Operations had explained that UCAS had published the Clearing vacancies in early July.
- It was noted that the Chair had agreed to post the minutes on the intranet by the end of the week.
Other points to consider
- If the meeting has been presented with different options on which to vote, the options should be detailed in the minutes even if they have already been explained in a report.
- Always use complete sentences.
- Avoid unexplained abbreviations or acronyms and colloquial expressions.
- Bullet points should be used minimally.
- Titles should not appear at bottom of the page.
- Draft minutes should be sent to the Chair for approval within five working days of the meeting.