TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Lucero, Peggy <plucero -at- atsva -dot- com> wrote:
>
> ... Part of my job is
> to capture the meeting minutes for the team's weekly meetings.
>
> Initially I was trying to capture these events manually (and no, I don't
> know shorthand.) It was impossible.
> ...
> Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can deal with this?
> ...
> These meeting minutes are sometimes very time intensive to get into a
> document. Meetings are typically 1 hr and ...
To me it sounds like you have the emphasis wrong. Don't even try
to transcribe it. Take MINUTES. Those are SHORT notes covering
anything important. Agenda, decisions, assignments, ...
The idea is that someone who missed the meeting can get up to
date by reading the minutes. The less text there is, the better.
Minutes for a one-hour meeting in a moderately well-organised
place might might be:
Present: all dep't heads except Fred Bloggs
Mr Jones, Miss Smith
Agenda
<include copy from the email announcing the meeting>
There was extensive discussion of the plan to open an office on
Mars. No consensus was reached. An opportunity, but a risk.
Decisions:
Fred Bloggs and Susan Froggs to report on market
prospects for Martian office next month
Tom Thumb to write Hitchiker's Guide by October 1
Wendy Wizardess to provide technical input
That's in a company where meetings are well orgabised and
decisions actually made. In some companies, you would need
far less text.
Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.