1. PREPARING MEETINGS DOCUMENTS
Sarah Murray

2. Meetings:- Informal Formal
A small group of people to discuss a problem or exchange ideas.
Formal
Directors or senior managers.
Formal meetings have specific rules and procedures which must always be followed.

3. Organisation Before the meeting: After the meeting: Where? When?
How long will it last for?
What will need to be discussed?
After the meeting:
What was discussed.
What was decided.
Who agreed to do what?

4. Before the Meeting Notice Agenda
This tells people where and when the meeting will be held. It may be sent by if the meeting is informal.
Agenda
This lists what will be discussed.
Notice and Agenda are frequently issued as one document.

5. Format of an Agenda
The title of the meeting and the date must be stated.
Agenda items then follow, using a numbered list.
Use double line spacing for clarity
Finally, the name of the chairperson (the person running the meeting) and the date the agenda is issued are shown at the end.

6. Meeting of the Advanced Secretarial Group
to be held on Monday 19 September 2011
in Room C125 at 2.30pm
AGENDA
Apologies for absence.
Minutes of previous meeting.
Matters arising.
Christmas Lunch.
Any other business.
Date and time of next meeting.
Sarah Murray
19 September 2011

7. Minutes of Meetings
Format varies from one organisation to another. Check files to see how they have been set out before. A specific template may be used.
Key items in Minutes of Meetings:
Title of meeting
The date it was held
The names of the people who attended (chairperson first and then other participants in alphabetical order)
Then follow the items on the Agenda.
Minutes must be signed and dated by the chairperson – this is normally done at the next meeting once they have been agreed.

8. Minutes conventions
Always write in the past tense. They are being written after the event and refer to what has already happened.
Always write in the third person. Never refer to I or we. E.g. ‘we decided’ becomes ‘it was decided’.
Only include relevant points.
Only give a summary of what was said. A useful phrase is ‘after much discussion it was decided to’.
Slang, strong adjectives and exaggerations are also omitted.