Transcript PROTECH (CIVIL) ECEN 1505

CAES1507
Professional and Technical Written
Communication for Engineers
Session Two
Minutes Writing
Roles of Participants
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Chairperson?
Secretary?
Committee Members?
Effective Committee Meetings
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The Chairperson
 Planning
 Informing
 Preparing
 Controlling
Effective Committee Meetings
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The Secretary
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Providing secretarial and administrative assistance
to the Chairperson at the planning, informing and
preparation stages
Taking notes during the meeting
Drafting the minutes after the meeting
Circulating the draft minutes for additions and/or
corrections
Circulating the confirmed minutes among committee
members
Effective Committee Meetings
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The Committee Members
–
–
–
Explaining their ideas clearly
Reacting to other people’s ideas
Helping the chairperson keep the meeting going
Causes of Ineffective Meetings
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Drifting off subject
Poor preparation
Lack of listening
Verbosity of participants
Length
Lack of participation
Lack of clear objectives or agendas
Unclear results
Poor organization
Poor chairing
Improving Ineffective Meetings
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State the objective at the outset
Prepare an agenda
Be selective when picking participants
Manage meeting time
Take charge
Close with a summary
Note-Taking
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Follow the agenda closely and listen carefully
throughout. Ask for clarification wherever
necessary
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Take brief, relevant notes under each
agenda item. Summarize the main points
raised and record action to be taken and by
whom, if relevant
Note-Taking
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Interrupt the meeting at appropriate time if
necessary, to make sure your notes
accurately reflect what has been discussed
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Check that you are happy about the notes
after the meeting. If information is missing or
vague – check with relevant member
Note-Taking
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It is very important that you actually take
notes during a meeting. Do not rely on your
memory alone.
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Although, you will have developed your own
style of note taking, you may want to
consider other alternatives like the one
shown on p. 14 of the course notes.
Agenda
The following is an example of a typical meeting
agenda. Discuss the following questions:
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Why do we need an agenda before the meeting?
(i.e. what are the purposes of having an agenda?)
What should be discussed under items 1, 2, and 7?
Minutes
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Draft the minutes as soon as possible after
the meeting
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Keep your notes until the minutes have been
approved
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Be selective – be accurate, brief and clear
with your writing
Minutes
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Put any action to be taken in a prominent place after each item.
Include the names of the person responsible as well
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Structure the minutes so that they follow the structure of the
agenda, and avoid complicated numbering systems
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Check your minutes with the chairperson and then circulate
them to the other committee members as soon as possible
(some time before the next meeting)
Minutes
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Read the following example (pp. 17-18) of
minutes of a meeting, of which the agenda
has been discussed in the previous section.
Discuss the following questions
with your classmates
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the connection between the agenda and the minutes
of a meeting?
What information should be included in the minutes?
How is information arranged under each discussion item to
make it reader-friendly?
Which tenses are used in the minutes? Why are these tenses
used?
Personal pronouns (we, you, I, he, etc) are not used in the
minutes. Why not? How do we avoid using personal
pronouns?
Format of Minutes (1)
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Title of the Meeting
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Minutes of the 3rd Meeting of the End of Year
Project Exhibition Committee
Present: Name + Position
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Linda Cooley Chair
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Apology? Absence?
Format of Minutes (1)
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Item 1 Confirmation of the minutes of the
previous meeting
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The minutes of the previous meeting were
confirmed subject to the following amendment:
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If changes
needed
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Item X
Y was amended to Z
OR
If no
amendment
needed
The minutes of the previous meeting were
confirmed without any amendments
Format of Minutes (1)
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Item
number
Item 2
Matters Arising
Latest report of the items raised / discussed in
the previous meeting
Item 3:
Of the three companies contacted for
banners to promote the exhibition, the
Bandwagon Company, Ltd. made the
best offer of HK$500 each for 1-3
banners and HK$400 each for 4-10
banners in three colours.
General information WITHOUT reporting
verbs: verbs in different tenses
Format of Minutes (1)
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Item 2
Matters Arising
AGREED: The Bandwagon Company Ltd. will be
Capitalised
asked to produce 6 banners.
for
attention
ACTION: Rose will liaise with the banner
company about the details of design,
size, content and colour scheme.
Agreement / Actions not taken yet –
Future tense
Format of Minutes (1)
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Item 2
Item 5:
Matters Arising
The Finance Office confirmed that the
overall budget for the exhibition would
not be increased from last year due to
the economic downturn. The budget is
fixed at HK$10,000.
REPORTING VERB –
Past Tense + reported speech
Format of Minutes (1)
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Item 3 XX (form of a noun phrase)
Insurance factors have required that a security
system be installed for the exhibition. UST and
HK PolyU recommended Production Management
Systems as providers of customized temporary
security systems
NOT REPORTING VERB –
Different tenses
Format of Minutes (1)
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Item 3 XX
Item – Form of a Noun Phrase
AGREED: The subcommittee on security for the
exhibition will contact Mr. Jackson of
Production Management Systems to see
what they can provide.
ACTION: Robin
Format of Minutes (1)
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Item 5
XX
The Chair informed the committee that the Estates Office
had circulated a notice stating that ALL visitors to the
campus would be required to pay the fees set by Wilson
Parking.
AGREED:
A letter will be sent to the Estates Office asking
them to exempt visitors from paying fees.
ACTION:
Denis
PASSIVE VOICE
Format of Minutes (1)
Item X
A.O.B.
There being no further business, the meeting
closed / was adjourned at 4:30PM
Next Meeting: April 12 at 3:30PM
Minutes Writing Task
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Now you will be shown the video of the 4th
meeting of the End of Year Project
Exhibition.
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Take notes while you are watching it. You will
be asked to produce the minutes for this
meeting. The agenda of the meeting is on p.
19 of the course notes.