Dont panic..

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Dont panic..
An easy guide to the key grammatical and
linguistic features of minutes Lisa Baker,
Secretariat Officer lbaker_at_lincoln.ac.uk
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So, what on earth does that mean?

• If were going to be picky (and we are!) then
  there are some quite specific rules about the way
  in which minutes should be written.
• But its not rocket science. There are five
  simple steps to making your minutes great

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The Golden Rules

• Write in the perfect (past) tense
• Background should be in the pluperfect tense
• Discussion should be minuted in the passive voice
• Generally, dont refer to people by name
• Make sure that what youve written makes sense
  and cannot be misinterpreted

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1. The Perfect (Past) Tense

• Minutes are a record of the meeting
• By the time you write up your minutes, the
  meeting has already happened
• Its in the past..
• Therefore, you should write your minutes in the
  past tense

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For example

• graduation ceremonies will be in January this
  year
• Becomes
• it was decided that the graduation ceremonies
  would be held in January

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More examples

• Does anyone have any questions about this
  document?
• becomes
• Members were invited to ask questions.
• Brian and John send their apologies
• becomes
• Apologies were received from

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2. The Pluperfect Tense

• Is basically a way of talking about things that
  have already happened before the meeting
• This might be a decision from a previous meeting,
  for example, or an event that took place last
  year
• Therefore, its one step further back in time

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For example

• at the last meeting we agreed that
• becomes
• at the last meeting, it had been agreed that
• we held the graduation ceremonies in December
  last year
• becomes
• graduation ceremonies had been held in
  December the previous year

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3. The Passive Voice

• The passive voice gives an impartial and
  objective flavour to your writing
• It eliminates the need to identify the speaker by
  name
• BUT it can be harder to understand, and the Plain
  English Campaign doesnt like it
• Therefore, follow your own institutions
  guidelines

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Passive the technical stuff!

• Passive voice is used when the focus is on the
  action.
• It is unimportant or unknown, however, who or
  what is performing the action.
• Example My bike was stolen.
• The focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen.
  I do not know, however, who did it.

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Passive the technical stuff!

• Sometimes a passive statement is more polite than
  active voice
• Example A mistake was made.
• I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but
  I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a
  mistake.).
• Form of Passive
• Subject finite form of to be Past Participle
• Example A letter was written.

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Active vs passive

• The Chair wanted to hold a Christmas party
• an interest was expressed in holding a
  Christmas party
• the University could not admit all the
  applicants to the history programme
• the applicants to the history programme could
  not all be admitted

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4. Referring to people by name

• In general, referring to people by name is best
  avoided
• In a formal committee, the position held is more
  important than the persons name
• In five years time, people might not know who
  Professor Smith refers to
• BUT, again, follow your own institutions
  guidelines

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For Example

• the Chair proposed that
• the Dean of Faculty
• the representative from the Faculty of
• the Students Union representative
• the year 1 course representative
• Not referring to people by name will make the
  minutes easier to understand for someone outside
  the Institution

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5. Do my minutes make sense? A basic checklist

• Sentences should generally be 15-20 words long
• The agreed actions should be clear
• The discussion should be concise, and only
  important matters of fact noted
• Pay attention to grammar, punctuation and
  sentence structure
• And the final test is.

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The final test

• Will my minutes make sense to someone new to the
  institution, or someone outside the institution,
  reading them in five years time?!

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Finally

• There are handouts in your pack on suggestions
  for clear writing and some common writing myths.
• What questions do you have?