Meeting Tips
To do:
- Incorporate example meeting minutes snippets
About a week before the meeting
Facilitator:
- Make sure you will be able to attend. If not, find someone to facilitate for you.
- Call for agenda items
Scribe:
- Make sure you will be able to attend. If not, find someone to scribe for you.
The day before the meeting
Facilitator:
- Create the agenda. (You are looking for agenda items. Organize them into a final agenda, grouping related items together and plugging into the general template):
- Review the previous meeting's notes
- Review which meetings happened that are likely to report
- Review the agenda
- Review other relevant things, like the RT queue, email posts, and the wiki
- Line up presenters for anything on the agenda that seems like a major topic. These people should be prepared to introduce the topic and answer questions about it.
Before the meeting
Facilitator:
- Incorporate any last minute items onto the agenda.
- Print out copies of the agenda.
Scribe:
- Get a laptop or a paper and pen/pencil for taking notes
The Meeting
Call the meeting to order
Facilitator:
- Make sure there's a scribe taking attendance and ready to take notes
- Is everyone OK with the agenda? Any items I missed?
Scribe:
- Record the name of the meeting and the date
- List everyone in attendance (for some meetings, list if they were late). Ask for people's names if you don't know them.
Check in
Facilitator:
- Ask how everyone's doing
Scribe:
- This usually requires no notes be taken
Committments from Previous Meeting
Facilitator:
- Go through each item and ask for a brief report.
- If committments pertain to regluar agenda items, ask that discussion be put off until that item
Scribe:
- Record the status of each item
- Did it change owners?
- Is it finished?
- Is it a carryover? (If so, re-enter in the future committments section)
Reports from Other Meeting
Facilitator:
- Go through each report and ask for a brief report.
- If committments pertain to regluar agenda items, ask that discussion be put off until that item
Scribe:
Old Business
Scribe:
- Record item names
- Key points from discussion
- Proposals (at least loose wording)
- Decisions -- Mark them as decisions -- Make sure the wording is accurate
New Business
Scribe:
- Same points at Old Business
Future Committments
Scribe:
- Record the item, its owner, and a deadline
Next Meeting
Scribe:
- Record next scribe
- Record next facilitator
- Record any reporters (i.e. to Council Meeting or Staff Meeting)
- Record next time and place of meeting