Course description

Been asked to "just take the minutes" and not sure where to start? Worried about missing a decision, writing too much, or getting someone's words wrong? This course shows you how to take clear, accurate minutes for any meeting, from a team catch-up to a committee meeting or an AGM.

It's a full course, not a few quick tips. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with worked examples and a practical task. Every section has a practice pack with realistic meeting scripts to take notes from, templates, checklists and model minutes to compare with your own. Throughout the course you follow Dilys, an administration officer at a housing association who becomes the minute taker for her team and the secretary of her allotment society.

What you'll learn

• The basics: what minutes are for, the different styles, and your job before, during and after a meeting.
• Preparing: working with the chair, agendas, papers, apologies and quorum.
• Note-taking: listening for decisions and actions, a two-column layout and your own abbreviations.
• In the room: keeping up, asking for clarification, online and hybrid meetings, and tricky moments.
• Writing up: structure, neutral reported speech, clear decisions and action points with owners and dates.
• Formal meetings: motions, proposers and seconders, voting, declarations of interest, AGMs and confidential items.
• Good practice: approval, filing, data protection, recordings and AI tools, and accessible minutes.

Who this course is for

• Administrators, PAs and team members asked to take minutes at work.
• Volunteer secretaries of clubs, charities, residents' groups and community organisations.
• Anyone who wants to run better meetings by knowing what good minutes look like.

The course is tool-neutral and based on UK practice. It gives general guidance: always follow your own organisation's policies and governing document.

What will i learn?

• Understand what minutes are for and choose the right style for each meeting
• Prepare with the chair: agendas, papers, apologies and quorum
• Take fast, useful notes with a two-column layout and your own abbreviations
• Keep up in busy, online and hybrid meetings and ask for clarification at the right moment
• Write clear minutes in a neutral tone with precise decisions and action points
• Get minutes approved, send them out and store them correctly
• Minute formal meetings: motions, votes, declarations of interest, AGMs and confidential items
• Handle data protection, recordings and AI tools responsibly

Frequently asked question