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No PA considers taking minutes to be pleasurable, but it has to be done – and done well. Not everyone working at PA level has come via the traditional route, which means that if you don’t take shorthand, it can be difficult to keep up with what’s being said. If it’s also a less-than-interesting meeting, it can be hard to maintain your attention so you don’t miss anything. And then when the meeting is over, it’s all got to be typed up and circulated – about as much fun as watching paint dry. You might find it hard to believe we can make the job enjoyable, but after our Minute Taking Training Courses, you will know how to write minutes that are beyond reproach – and even enjoy doing so! We will show you how to:
Sitting in a meeting and listening is easy enough, but actually hearing what’s being said is not just a matter of concentration, it’s about filtering the discussion so you can note the significant details. We’ll give you tips on effective hearing – with both ears.
The chairperson manages and directs the meeting, but needs to work in harmony with the minute-taker so that the flow of the meeting is noted properly. On occasions, this will require assertiveness from you – we show you how.
Research suggests that 16% of the adult population has literacy problems. We’re not suggesting that includes you, but today’s organisations can no longer assume that employees come to them fully-equipped to write grammatical English. Where help with the basics is needed, we provide it.
Different audiences have different needs and expectations from minutes. A CEO may just want an executive summary while a project team may need to see detail. We’ll show you several methods of filtering your notes so you can zoom in on what needs to be included in the minutes.
This is a tough one, especially if you’re not directly involved in the subject of the meeting. You may not even understand the terminology being used. Relax: our special techniques for improving concentration will help you breeze through the meeting – without dozing off!
Ideally, you write up meeting minutes straight afterwards. In practice, it could be a couple of days before you get round to it. By that time, the meaning of some cryptic comment with arrows pointing to a doodled diagram may have evaporated. Once you start applying one of the several note-taking methods we’ll show you, such nightmares will be a thing of the past.
Where the meeting includes a lot of technical jargon and detail, it’s easy to lose track. There are ways around the problem, however, so even if you’re a complete technophobe we’ll make sure you’re covered in glory when your minutes are circulated.
90+ pages
With a day to impart so much information effectively, we use a variety of training techniques to ensure that PAs retain what they have learnt and return to work able to implement their new knowledge immediately. Providing direct after-course support via email and social media, therefore, plays an essential part in this process. The techniques include:
All Today’s PA delegates are asked to evaluate the course as it finishes. Delegates regularly give us 5 out of 5, and 1 in 6 have said it’s the best course they’ve ever attended.
Today’s PA was named “Best PA Training Provider in the UK” six years running, having been voted for by thousands of Assistants in the PA Voice Awards 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Your principal trainer, Paul Pennant, is the founder and Managing Director of Today’s PA. Paul started Today’s PA with a clear vision: to take his own experiences as a PA, office manager, and business director and create training Minute Taking Courses that meet the challenging real-world needs and aspirations of modern business professionals.
With the rapid advances in technology, Paul has specialised in helping PAs to utilise this technology to save time and reduce stress. He covers all Microsoft Office products at all levels. He is a Microsoft Office Specialist Master. With a post-graduate degree in business studies, few, if any, trainers are better qualified to deliver and lead the Minute Taking Courses for Today’s PAs – for you.
Your investment is just £290 + VAT.
Investment for non-profit organisations is £250+VAT.
This includes:
When you commit your valuable time to this training day, we want you to know that we understand and recognise that commitment. We want to do everything we can to ensure that the Minute Taking Courses are thoroughly worthwhile for you. Being properly prepared will play a key part in achieving that success. Indeed, your success is our success.
If you get what we promise from the course – and we know you will – we are confident you will recommend it to peers and colleagues. So we would like you to complete a short questionnaire, just before you attend the Minute Taking Courses, in order to give us a snapshot of the kind of person and PA you are, how you became a PA and what are your issues, frustrations, hopes, and ambitions.
When you arrive at the Minute Taking Courses, you will feel that you are among friends who understand you – and you are because your trainers and course designers have all been where you are now. Doesn’t that give you a warm, fuzzy feeling?
You may even wish to look at this article from Wikipedia before attending.
Once the Minute Taking Courses is over, we don’t just wave you goodbye and close the door. When you leave, you take with you our ongoing commitment to your success, which includes:
Taking minutes is a task not just confined to secretaries and PAs these days. Sometimes it gets dumped on the most junior person at a meeting, regardless of ability, experience or knowledge of the meeting subject.
No-one considers taking minutes to be pleasurable, but it has to be done – and done well – if the result is to be useful to all interested parties, as well as those who actually attended the meeting. In some cases, there may be financial implications or statutory requirements that depend on the accuracy and clarity of properly-drafted minutes.
If your PA is not a shorthand-trained secretary or PA, it can be difficult for them to keep up with what’s being said. When it’s also a less than interesting meeting – and let’s face it, they do happen – it can be hard to maintain their attention so they don’t miss something. And then when the meeting’s over it’s all got to be typed up and circulated – and most people think that’s about as much fun as watching paint dry!
You might well find it hard to believe we can make the job of minute-taking enjoyable, but after these Minute Taking Courses, your PAs will not only know how to write minutes that are beyond reproach, they will even enjoy doing so! And that’s a promise.
What makes this course stand out from all the others is mostly that it has been created by PAs and is targeted directly at PAs and other admin professionals. Not only will your PAs be receiving the very best in training from us, but they will be surrounded by a wealth of knowledge and experience in the form of the other PAs present. They will feel positively spoilt by this rare training and networking opportunity, and will return to work feeling confident, empowered, motivated, and of course with completely current expertise.
Group work and discussion are encouraged throughout our Minute Taking Courses. We don’t simply talk at our PAs; we involve them, listen to them and work with them. We make sure your individual PAs needs are met.
We know, that with so much valuable information to impart on our PAs, there really is a lot for them to take on board. That’s why we’ve gone that extra mile to ensure that your PAs really takes away as much as possible from these Minute Taking Courses. We provide them with easy to navigate, comprehensive hand-outs, covering everything discussed in the Minute Taking Courses, and much more. As a graduate of this workshop, your PA will become a lifetime member to our PA network; no question too big or small, we are always at the other end of the phone or email, ready to help.
Even if you can’t make it to one of our venues, don’t despair – why not let us come to you?
There are many good reasons for keeping these Minute Taking Courses in-house: it makes for greater efficiency and ensures everything is focussed on your organisation’s business. Our Minute Taking Courses can be adapted to your organisation’s specific needs so that it perfectly aligns with its culture and values.
Your PAs can also network and share their experiences of these Minute Taking Courses, thus strengthening the PA role within your organisation.