Business Communication 1. Preparing Minutes of Meetings 2 A meeting has been called…. Statutory….. Because the law demands it … Shareholders’, creditors’,

Business Communicat

ion

Business Communicat

ion

1

Preparing Minutes of Meetings


2

A meeting has been called….

Statutory

….. Because the law demands it

… Shareholders’, creditors’, director’, councillors’ meetings

Managerial

…. To discuss progress of company affairs

To inform of policy, to brief, to delegate tasks, to discuss problems, to reach group decisions, etc.

Creative …. To generate ideas, to open up new possibilities or avenues of action

To ‘brainstorm’ around the idea of what the firm could design, manufacture; to produce an advertising slogan, poster, etc.



3

A meeting has been called….

Negotiating

…. To reach a solution to a problem acceptable to two sides with different interest

Management and trade union to agree pay increases

General/public

…. To report back to a group membership, or to air matters of public interest

Annual General Meeting of shareholders or club membership meeting; public enquiries into planning proposals

Members of Meetings & their role

• The Chairman

• The Secretary

• The Treasurer

• The Committee Members



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Committee Members’ Roles• The Chairman’s Role: to coordinate the

work of the committee.. Leader, guide, umpire.

• The Secretary’s Role: to carry out the administrative work of the committee.

• The Treasurer’s Role: to monitor the committee financial activities.

• The Committee Member’s Role: To participate at meetings and do work delegated to him or her.



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Special terms for meetings:• Ad hoc for the particular purpose.• Advisory submitting suggestions or advice to a

person or body entitled to carry out decisions and actions.

• Agenda a ‘timetable’ listing items for discussion at a meeting.

• AGM Annual General Meeting.• Apologies for absence written or orally

delivered excuse for not being able to attend a meeting.

• Chairman coordinator of a committee, working party, etc.

• Chairman's agenda like to ordinary agenda but containing additional information for guidance.

Types of Meetings

• Informal Meeting

• Formal Meeting

Minutes of Informal Meetings


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1.The date, time, and place of the meeting.2.The name of the presiding officer.3.A list of those present (and frequently those

absent).4.The time of adjournment.5.Discussions are usually summarized.

Usually the minutes are signed by the person who took them and sometimes by the presiding officer as well.

Minutes are usually duplicated, and copies are

sent to each person present at the meeting.



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Presiding: Naeem Ahmad, President

Present: Ahmad Ali Muhammad AleemSara Zaman Yousif Habib

Absent: Munir Ahmad Muhammad Asif

Tariq Nazir

After calling the meeting to order at 3:15 pm. The president asked the treasurer for a brief report....

The president asked Sara Zaman, chairperson of the investment committee, for the committee recommendation….The president asked Mr. Ali, the club’s broker, to comment….



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Mr Habib announced that the club’s annual picnic is schedule for Saturday, Sept 14, at Al-Hamra Hall in Lahore……

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Hassan Secretary

Minutes of Formal Meetings


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Minutes of meetings that follow parliamentary procedure are somewhat different in form from the informal minutes illustrated here. Formal minutes do not include discussions. Only motions, resolutions, committee assignments and reports, and other specific accomplishments are included. Topical headings are used for easy reference and how the recorder has briefly summarized a speaker’s remarks.



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Time & Place: The regular monthly meeting of the Historical-Commercial Club of Lahore was called to order by the president, Naeem Ahmad, on Friday, February 8, 2006, at 2 pm in the Jinnah room.

Minutes The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.

Treasurer’s report The following report was given by Fatima Hanif, the treasurer:

Balance on hand, Jan 1, 2006

Rs. 23720.90

18160.50

TotalPaid out in January

Balance

41881.40 8500.00

----------------33381.4

The treasurer’s report was accepted.



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Old Business

It was moved, seconded, and voted that a booklet describing local commercial site of historic interest be written and published by the club and distributed to local schools.

New Business

After a discussion about improving the club’s ability to advise the local media about its activities, a committee consisting of Fatima Hanif, chairperson; Sara Ahmad, Iqbal was appointed to report the next meeting.

Program Naeem Ahmad introduced Ms. Munir, an archaeologist at City University……

The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 pm.

Producing the MinutesProducing the Minutes 14

Resolution minutesMeeting of boards of directions, for example – record only the decision reached, usually after a vote.

5 Liberty BranchIt was resolved that the company’s liberty branch be closed with effect from 31 May 2006 and the premises, fixtures and fittings offered for sale


Narrative Minutes( fuller picture & view)

Sometimes referred to as minutes of narration, narrative minutes tell more of the ‘story of what happened and who said what at a meeting.

Narrative minutes are recorded in reported speech. This simply involves referring to committee members in the third person – either by their office – ‘The chairman said..’ or by name, ‘Mr Naeem asked whether ….’ When decisions are reached by a vote, expressions such as, ‘it was generally agreed that….’ ‘It was therefore decided that….’ Are used to introduce the details of the decision. Further, to keep the record objective and neutral, the passive is often used.


Action MinutesBusy committees sometimes like to introduce a right hand blank column beside the minutes in order to put a designated committee member’s name against a particular task to be carried out:

6 Annual gamesThe secretary was asked to seek approval to use the company sports Ground again.

Action by: Secretary

Some rules of indirect speech)Some rules of indirect speech)17

‘I’m sorry I’m late. I missed the bus.’ DIRECT SPEECH

He said that he was sorry he was late. He had missed the bus.

He apologized for being late. He had missed the bus.

Some rulesSome rules 18

Rule one: persons/pronounsRule two: the tenses of verbsRule three: the distancing effectRule four: conveying the tone of the direct

speech

Documents

Business Communication 1. Preparing Minutes of Meetings 2 A meeting has been called…. Statutory….. Because the law demands it … Shareholders’, creditors’,