One of the sacred duties of the secretary is the preparation of meetings, conferences and sessions initiated by managers at various levels. In most cases, the secretary also keeps minutes of such events. In this article we will tell you how to make these processes more efficient.
To start talking about protocol, the first step is to talk about meeting preparation. Before such an event, it is important to think through the agenda, determine the composition of participants, and familiarize yourself with the reports of all speakers and other materials. All this will require additional effort, but as a result, maintaining the protocol will be much easier.
HOW TO SAVE TIME?
According to various studies, from 10 to 50% of the working time of the head of the organization and other employees can be spent on meetings. To reduce time costs, initiators, organizers and participants of meetings need to remember the following rules:
Discuss at the meeting only issues that cannot be resolved on the job.
Limit the number of participants in meetings. It is directly proportional to the duration of the event. If the duration of a meeting with 5 employees is 1 hour, then with the number of participants 10 or more, it will most likely last 2 hours or more.
Prepare information materials for the meeting in advance. Calculations, analytical reports, tables, graphs, reports, photo and video materials, presentations, product samples, expert opinions must be provided by specialized specialists. But the secretary of the meeting is responsible for checking the readiness of materials. Therefore, a day or two before the event you should:
a) with the help of responsible persons who will make presentations, compile a list of all information materials;
b) receive materials in electronic form from responsible persons (for example, presentations, explanatory notes, etc.);
c) receive printed abstracts and texts of reports from responsible persons.
For each issue, appoint one responsible employee, even when a group of people must carry out the assignment.
Don't waste time exposing the culprits. Remember that the main purpose of every meeting is to discuss the agenda and make decisions on it.
AGENDAS
This is a list of issues that are planned to be discussed at the meeting. They are determined by the chairman of the meeting. However, the secretary can also participate in this process.
Use the following guidelines when developing your agenda:
- Break meeting topics that are too broad into several subtopics. If necessary, responsible persons can hold preparatory meetings for each subtopic.
For example, a meeting scheduled for the end of the month on the topic “On the implementation of planned indicators by the main production shops” should be preceded by a series of small meetings in the shops: “On the implementation of the plan by the foundry shop”, “On the implementation of the plan by the procurement workshop”, “On the implementation of the plan by the machine shop”, “On the implementation of the plan by the assembly shop.” Or a meeting on the topic “On the implementation of an ERP system in an enterprise” should be preceded by several meetings: “On the problems of implementing an ERP system in production”, “On ensuring communication between the ERP system and 1C in accounting”, “On the technical support of the ERP system and data transfer”, etc.
- Place on the agenda issues of equal importance, united by a common theme.. For example, provision of transport, the procedure for delivery to the warehouse, shipment and removal of finished products from the territory of the enterprise.
A wider range of interconnected problems can also be put on the agenda. For example, these may include:
Purchase of a new production line;
Technological preparation of production;
Making changes to design and technological documentation in connection with the acquisition of new equipment;
Modernization of production buildings and development of machine connections;
Logistics support for production.
At the same time, the reconstruction of the factory checkpoint or the organization of electronic payments for passes in the factory canteen is clearly not worth discussing at this meeting.
It is clear that the secretary cannot always influence the content of the agenda. The meeting is convened by the leader, who also outlines the range of issues. And if the manager includes on the agenda of one meeting the purchase of a new production line for casting production and the organization of a spring cleanup day to clean up the territory, then it may not be possible to convince him. But for your part, you can propose to bring the discussion of organizing a cleanup to another meeting, for example, combining it with the issue of painting the facade of a building or with holding celebrations on the occasion of the organization’s birthday.
- Draw up an agenda only from those issues that are within the competence and area of responsibility of the meeting participants. For example, it will be useless to discuss supply issues in the absence of the head of the supply service.
- Limit the number of topics and items on the agenda. There should be as many of them as can be effectively discussed and resolved within the allotted period of time. For example, in 1 hour of a meeting, you can discuss from 1 to 5 issues, depending on the scale of the topics discussed and the quality of the preparation of the meeting.
- Include in the agenda a report on tasks and instructions given at the last meeting, if the meetings are united by a common topic and composition of participants. Be prepared for the fact that, even if there is no such item on the agenda, the chairman can introduce it with his authority. Therefore, it is better to print out the list of instructions in advance - the chairman, responsible person and secretary should have it.
MEETING PARTICIPANTS
General requirements for event participants:
Competence and interest in the issues on the agenda;
A high enough position to make decisions and give instructions to subordinates based on the results of the meeting.
The composition of participants may change during the event. If the agenda includes topics that affect all meeting participants and issues that apply only to some of them, then general issues should be discussed first. At the end of this part of the meeting, employees not involved in further discussion can be released.
How to notify everyone
Inform all meeting participants about the date, time, location, theme of the event.
You can report a meeting using a phone call, SMS message, email (with delivery and read notification), or personal visit.
If one of the participants is absent from the workplace for various reasons (annual leave, temporary disability, business trip, etc.), it is necessary to find out the reason for the absence and remind the employee who is replacing the absentee according to the replacement scheme that he must be present at the meeting.
It can also be helpful to put a pop-up prompt in your computer calendar such as “remind your deputy to attend the meeting.”
Information about who is notified of the meeting and when can be entered into a table (Example 1).
EXAMPLE 1
Notifying meeting participants
The meeting will take place on June 24, 2017 at 11:00 in the office of the procurement director.
Topic: Concluding contracts with suppliers for the second half of 2017.
Seating arrangement for meeting participants
Be sure to prepare a seating chart for meeting participants if the following will be present:
Higher officials (city, region, territory, republic, federation);
Owners of transnational corporations and holdings, etc.;
Representatives of partner organizations.
If possible, the secretary is assigned a seat at a separate table next to the chairman’s table (Example 2).
Example 2
Seating chart
Name cards
On the tables opposite the appropriate places, it is necessary to place name cards with the position and (or) full name. each participant. The simplest option is a sheet of paper folded into a “house” (Fig. 1)
Rice. 1. Name card for meeting participant
Badges
In especially critical cases, it is necessary to prepare badges (breast cards), on which you should indicate:
Full name participants;
Their positions;
The name of the organization that each participant represents;
The locality in which the specified organization is located.
The badge may also include:
Logo of the organization that the participant represents;
Logo (emblem) of the event (meetings, conferences, etc.).
You can use badges with a lanyard or clothespin. They are sold in stationery and office supply stores.
You can design inserts with text yourself, then print them on a printer, cut them with scissors and put them into badges (Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. In-house designed badge insert
If sufficient funds have been allocated for preparation, insert cards can be ordered from an organization that provides printing services. And for regular internal meetings, badges will not be needed at all.
DURATION OF THE MEETING
Different types of meetings have different amounts of time. For example, a morning planning meeting may take about half an hour, but an interregional meeting on a specific issue may take the whole day.
The duration of the meeting should be planned in advance. All participants must know the start and end times of the event. This will help you work quickly and efficiently so you don't have to stay late.
Breaks
If the duration of the meeting exceeds an astronomical hour (60 minutes), then it is necessary to take breaks after every academic hour (45 minutes).
At particularly long events, pauses may be provided during which participants are offered snacks (sandwiches, fruits, sweets) and drinks (tea, coffee, juices, mineral water, etc.).
When the level of the meeting is low, and next to the room where the meeting is taking place, there is a cooler, coffee machine and disposable tableware for office visitors, then meeting participants will be able to pour themselves coffee, tea or water.
Bottles of water and glasses can be placed in advance on the tables at which meeting participants are sitting - then they can quench their thirst not only during a break, but at any time. It is better not to put food on the tables. It will be awkward if one of the participants drops a sandwich on business papers or spills coffee.
It is better to set the table with snacks and drinks in a separate room. This is usually done by the secretary, but only if he does not take minutes. When the secretary cannot leave the room during a meeting, another employee designated as responsible for this must organize a break. Or, alternatively, the secretary prepares everything for coffee breaks before the meeting begins. As a rule, it is impossible to do without assistants at extended meetings.
Time frame
The duration of the event must be regulated. The chairman of the meeting monitors compliance with this rule.
When planning your meeting, be sure to consider the time required for each speaker to speak and each issue to be discussed.
Check with the chairman for the rules for each speech.
Schedule breaks if necessary.
Add up all the time periods on the calculator and add to the resulting amount
The chairman should be advised of how long the meeting may take. If he agrees with this figure, the regulations must be brought to the attention of all participants; if not, adjustments will have to be made and reported to the chairman again.
After agreement, the agenda with time restrictions is sent to all meeting participants (Example 3).
EXAMPLE 3
Agenda with time limits
MEETING MINUTES: 5 BASIC STEPS
Protocol document both the activities of permanent collegial bodies (commissions, committees, councils, etc.) and temporary collegial bodies - various meetings, conferences, seminars and conferences.
The following types of protocols are distinguished:
. Brief protocol- a document in which the full name is recorded. and positions of the meeting participants, its topic, main issues, summary of reports, decisions made, list of tasks for each responsible person. Such minutes are usually kept at operational meetings.
. Full protocol, in addition to all of the above, includes detailed records of all speeches, opinions, amendments and other nuances of the discussion. This document allows you to restore a detailed picture of the meeting.
The form of taking minutes is chosen by the chairman of the meeting or the head of the enterprise.
Texts of speeches and other materials prepared for the meeting are prepared in the form of appendices. They must be referenced in the text of the protocol.
The secretary is responsible for how correctly and completely the progress of the meeting is recorded. This responsibility cannot be underestimated, since the protocol is the only document that reflects all speeches, discussions, comments and decisions made that must be executed. During the meeting, participants may not hear something or have time to write it down. This will be easy to restore by referring to the protocol.
Step 1: preparing the workplace
To make it easier to take minutes, before the meeting begins:
. Choose your seat in the hall where the event will take place. It should be visible to all participants in person, the speeches of the chairman, speakers and “replicas from the hall” should be clearly audible (see seating chart in Example 2).
. Place on your desk a list of meeting participants indicating their full names. and positions, as well as a seating chart. Before the meeting begins, it would be a good idea to carefully study who is sitting where, and then look at the diagram as needed.
. Stock up on office supplies. Take with you 2-3 pens, 2 pencils, 2 erasers.
. Check if office equipment and other devices are working: watch, voice recorder, video camera (if available). Don't forget the power cord and spare batteries or rechargeable batteries.
Before the meeting, refresh your memory of the main points of all reports.
Step 2: Record the progress of the meeting
In addition to the materials prepared for the meeting (texts of reports, speeches, references, draft decisions, agenda, lists of participants, etc.), the minutes are compiled on the basis of sound recordings, video recordings, transcripts or rough handwritten notes that are kept during the meeting.
How to keep rough notes?
1. Prepare sheets for the draft protocol- their number depends on the size of the agenda. On the first sheet write the date of the meeting, its topic, minutes number, list of participants, agenda (Example 4).
EXAMPLE 4
Draft minutes of the meeting. Sheet No. 1
Write the questions brought up for discussion on separate blank sheets of paper, leaving enough space for notes:
Sheet No. 2: “On the status of work on concluding contracts for the supply of non-ferrous and ferrous metals.” Report by Prokhorov P.D.;
Sheet No. 3
Sheet No. 4: “On transport support for supplies.” Report by Medvedev V.Yu.;
Sheet No. 5: ... (to be filled in during the meeting);
Sheet No. 6: “On the status of settlements under concluded and executed contracts for the purchase of raw materials and supplies.” Report by Fomina K.D.;
Sheet No. 7: ... (to be filled in during the meeting);
Sheet No. 8: “On concluding agreements with Amethyst LLC on the supply of steel and alloys to ESPZ OJSC.” Suggestions from Telegin I.I.;
Sheet No. 9: ... (to be filled in during the meeting).
2. Check that all meeting participants are present. Cross out those absent in the draft protocol with a pencil - perhaps they are late. Find out the reasons for absences and delays after the meeting.
Record the arrival time of those who are late directly in the text of the protocol in brackets:
In this case, it will be known exactly who among those present and what exactly they missed during the meeting.
3. Fill in the “LISTENED” item. On the first sheet of the draft and on the sheets with the corresponding titles of the reports, consistently record your full name. and positions of speakers, topics of speeches and their summary. You only need to record basic information: dates, numbers, facts. Subsequently, compare the notes with the provided texts of speeches (thesis). If you find any discrepancies, notify the meeting chairperson.
4. Enter the item “PERFORMED”(if necessary). This item is filled in when the speakers' progress is interrupted by comments, questions and objections from other participants. In full protocol Each such remark should be recorded immediately, especially if it is accompanied by the phrase: “Please put it into the protocol.” For example:
The fact is that any statement can change the course of the meeting, and subsequently it may be necessary to highlight the moment when and why this happened.
In a short protocol
We draw up a short protocol of the operational meeting
V.F. Yankovaya, Ph.D. ist. Sciences, Deputy Director of VNIIDAD
Almost all organizations hold meetings at which operational issues are discussed. Very often such meetings are called operational. They are conducted by managers at different levels: from the head of the organization to the heads of structural divisions. Operational meetings are held at regular intervals (usually once a week) and are usually recorded. If the structural unit or the manager holding the meeting does not have a secretary, one of the unit’s employees may be entrusted with keeping minutes of the operational meeting.
Our dictionary
Minutes are a document containing a consistent record of the progress of discussion of issues and decision-making at meetings, meetings, conferences and sessions of collegial bodies*.
Problems and solutions
Drawing up minutes of operational meetings is often difficult. Let's look at the most common ones.
Problem: The secretary or one of the junior staff members who takes the minutes may not understand the essence of the issue being discussed, and therefore has difficulty recording the progress of the discussion of the issue.
What to do? In such situations, the secretary should contact the staff member who spoke at the meeting or any other staff member who can provide clarification.
Problem: Since operational meetings are often held without strict rules, the secretary may not have time to record everything that happens during the meeting.
What to do? In this case, recording audio during the meeting and drawing up minutes based on its transcript can help.
Problem: when discussing an issue, both significant and insignificant or even unimportant information may be expressed, and it may be difficult for the secretary to identify the main (essential) information that needs to be recorded in the minutes.
What to do? In this case, before drawing up the protocol, the secretary must analyze all the information, separate the main from the unimportant and include only the most important information in the protocol.
General rules for drawing up a protocol
The minutes are drawn up on the basis of sound recordings or rough handwritten notes kept during the meeting by the secretary or other employee, as well as materials prepared for the meeting (texts of reports, speeches, certificates, draft decisions, agenda, lists of participants, etc.).
If a sound recording was made at a meeting, it is reprinted after the meeting, then the written text is edited and, in a processed form, included in the minutes. The period allotted for drawing up the minutes of the meeting should not exceed three to five days from the date of the meeting. Minutes of operational meetings are drawn up and executed on the day of the meeting or within one or two days after the meeting.
Protocols can be complete or short. The full minutes contain a record of all speeches at the meeting, questions asked of the speaker, speeches of persons who took part in the discussion, and decisions made. The short protocol includes only the names of those who spoke, the topic of the speech, a summary of the speech and the decisions made.
The progress of operational meetings, as a rule, is recorded in brief minutes.
The minutes of the meeting are drawn up on a general form, a standard sheet of A4 paper or a specially designed minutes form.
The required details of the protocol are:
· name of the organization
· name of the type of document (MINUTES) indicating the type of meeting
date of the meeting
· protocol registration number
location of the meeting
· signatures.
Text of the short protocol
The text of the protocol consists of two parts: introductory and main.
The introductory part of the brief protocol indicates the names of the chairman and secretary, positions and names of participants (those present) and invited persons, and the agenda. If there are more than 15 participants in the meeting, the minutes may indicate the total number of participants, and a list of those present, indicating their positions and names, is given in the appendix to the minutes, for example:
Present: members of the management in the amount of 16 people. (list attached).
The names of persons invited to the meeting are indicated after the word “Invited”, indicating the position of the person and the name of the organization.
The agenda indicates the issues that are the subject of consideration; the position and surname of the rapporteur (speaker) may additionally be indicated. If there are several questions, they are numbered in Arabic numerals and arranged in order of discussion. Agenda items are formulated with the preposition “about” (“about”), for example:
Minutes of the meeting, transcript of the discussion. Example, template, example. Structure. Compilation. Compose, write. Instructions
Structure, meeting minutes template
Transcript of the first speaker's speech
Transcript of the second speaker's speech
Decisions made
Materials for the meeting
Before the meeting, participants are sent materials necessary to prepare the meeting and make decisions, for example, information notes, preliminary versions of documents (plans, contracts, budgets, etc.) that need to be approved at the meeting. All meeting participants are sent information about the date, time and location of the meeting, who initiated the meeting, and the contact person who is organizing the event. You can ask the contact person questions of an organizational nature (how to get there, how to order a pass, where to park the car). Substantive questions are asked to contact persons, who must be indicated in the materials. Different contact persons may be indicated for different materials.
Example, sample protocol
Date, time and place of the meeting: 10/01/2010 12:30 - 13:30 Central office. Meeting room N34.
Initiator: General Director Svistunova Olga Vasilievna
List of participants
Secretary of the meeting: Assistant to the General Director Grigory Anatolyevich Erofeev
The following were sent to the meeting:
Security Chief's Report
The company has adopted rules for encoding employee email addresses (initials and the first two letters of the last name), which allow third parties to easily recognize the email address of any employee. This leads to streams of unauthorized emails with various commercial offers and other useless information.
There were no questions asked regarding the presentation.
Report of the head of the information technology service
There is no option to refuse existing addresses, since they are known to key counterparties and regulatory authorities. I propose that all employees should have another email account for active correspondence. Develop the encoding so that it is not possible to identify the employee’s address by his full name. Configure mail filters so that mail to old addresses is subject to strict filtering. Filtering mail to new addresses should be made more gentle. If possible, notify counterparties of changes in addresses. The work will be carried out by the Information Technology Department.
The question to the speaker was asked by the head of the financial department: Have the costs of organizing the proposed system been worked out by the information technology department? Perhaps it would be more efficient to outsource this work?
Answer. No, the issue has not been studied.
Comment from the head of the financial department: I propose to approve the decision in the following wording: The Information Technology Department should develop measures to correct the situation with email addresses and work out the issue of the costs of their implementation on their own and by outsourcers. Take the least expensive option.
Answer. There are no objections.
Decisions made
Change the order in which email addresses are encoded. Keep email addresses in the old encoding, but strictly filter emails sent to them.
To complete the task, the information technology department will develop a work assignment within five working days. Within another five working days, determine the costs of performing the work yourself and the costs of outsourcing. Decide how the work will be performed based on cost calculations. Carry out the work on your own or by outsourcers within 15 working days. Entrust control over the implementation of the decision to the head of the security service.
Sample minutes of a commission meeting
Let's look at a sample of the full minutes of a commission meeting. The rules for drawing up minutes are the same and do not depend on the type of meeting (attestation commission, expert commission, commission for conducting something or a meeting of the council, working group, committee, etc.), unless this is specifically regulated in the relevant regulatory act.
The report is usually drawn up according to the notes taken during the meeting or on the basis of the materials submitted to the secretary for the meeting. It is drawn up on a general form, fixed with instructions for office work, or on a standard A4 sheet. The necessary details and their location are given below in the sample minutes of the commission meeting.
2. LISTENED:
Zaligvatsky R.Yu - informed about the start of work...
2.1. Take note and use in your work...
2.2. The legal department (A.P. Kukushkin) should finalize the draft regulations. Deadline: November 21, 2014.
2.3. Complete...by 11/30/2014. Responsible – head of the economic department Balalaika S.R.
Chairman I.M. Zagorulko
Secretary M.P. Yagodkina
How else you can draw up a protocol, look at a specific example of the minutes of a meeting of an expert commission. The sample protocol format given in this article is available for download in doc format.
Now a few clarifications. The date of the minutes (indicated verbally and digitally) is always the date of the meeting, even if the document was drawn up later. Protocols for each type are registered separately and assignment of numbers begins at the beginning of each year. Letter suffixes may be added to the protocol number. For joint meetings, composite numbers are indicated (through a fraction).
If there are more than 15 people present, they are not listed in the protocol form. A link to the list is provided, which will be an integral part of the protocol. If representatives of various organizations participated in the meeting, then their positions and place of work must be indicated.
Agenda items are numbered and always begin with the preposition “About...” or “About...”.
The scheme of each issue under consideration is built in a standard way: “LISTENED” – “SPEAKED” (if there was no discussion or questions asked, then this part can be skipped) – “DECIDED” or “DECIDED”.
After the surname (pay attention to the case - “listened” to whom? and “spoke” who?), the main content of the speeches is included in the text of the protocol (stated in the past tense from the third person singular - “introduced”, “noted”, “suggested” and etc.) or issued in the form of separate annexes to the protocol.
The decision made is formulated in the form adopted in administrative documents (“to approve the position”, “to prepare the program”, etc.). If instructions are given, then it is necessary to indicate the responsible executor and the deadline. The voting results, if necessary, are given in the dispositive part: “for” – 5 votes, “against” – no, “abstained” – 2 votes, the decision was made by 5 votes.
The minutes are signed only by the chairman and the secretary (not required by other members of the commission). Some types of minutes must be approved by the head of the organization, for example, minutes of a meeting of an expert commission. In this case, we add an approval stamp.
I hope that with the help of these samples you will now be able to easily draw up any minutes of the meeting.
Evgeniya Polosa
**If you need LEGAL HELP, get an online consultation now.
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Sample. Brief protocol form
FORM OF SHORT PROTOCOL
Name
enterprises
PROTOCOL
"__"______ 20__
No.______________
_________________
Production
Chairman - ______________________________________________________________
Secretary - ______________________________________________________
Present: _____________________________________________________
(titles, surnames, initials)
Issues covered:
2. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Decisions made:
1. _____________________________________________________________
Preparing meetings and drawing up minutes
What protocol are we talking about?
In management practice, such types of protocol as a protocol of intent, approval protocols, and protocols for the seizure of material evidence (documents) are used. Among the main documents of the general meeting of shareholders, the law names the minutes of the meeting and the minutes of the counting commission.
In addition, a protocol can be drawn up by one official during the implementation of administrative functions - a protocol for a traffic accident, a protocol for arrest, etc. Each of these types of protocol has a corresponding standard form.
In this article we will talk about protocol drawn up based on the results of a collegial management action- meetings, conferences or sessions. This document is intended to document collegial discussion of issues and decision-making.
In Russian office work, the protocol has been used since the beginning of the 18th century, from the period when it began to be practiced in management practice to discuss an issue before making a decision. Historically, the protocol is:
In modern management practice, minutes are drawn up to document the activities of meetings held by managers of different ranks. Minutes are also used to reflect the work of conferences, meetings, seminars, etc.
The decision on the need to draw up minutes during operational meetings is made by the manager who appoints and conducts them. If the meeting is about informing subordinates about some problem, about explaining a previously made decision, etc., then a protocol may not be needed. But the need to draw up minutes of such an operational meeting is also possible. In this case, the protocol will record the composition of those present, opinions or proposals expressed.
Preparing for the meeting
Features of documenting the work of permanent collegial bodies
Permanent collegial bodies (councils, boards, commissions) are distinguished by a high degree of organization of their work.
This is expressed in availability:
This list of three points (maximum program) in reality can be reduced to a single secretary of a collegial body (minimum program). Now let's comment on these three points in more detail.
IN regulations The collegial body determines the frequency of meetings, the type of decisions made, the procedure for documenting activities, the day and time of the meeting. Sometimes at enterprises there are regulations for holding meetings that relate to the work of not just one collegial body, but any collegial activity.
The minutes are among the necessary documents, primarily because they record the fact of the meeting, the decisions made at it, and the timing of their implementation. This document may subsequently serve as the basis for issuing a decision or resolution (i.e., an administrative document) of this collegial body.
Permanent collegial bodies must have work plan for the year. which includes the main issues to be discussed.
Permanent collegial bodies usually have apparatus. which ensures the functioning of this body. This division is headed by a secretary (secretary of the academic council, secretary of the board, etc.), who belongs to the category of specialists or managers. This official is responsible for the organization of meetings, and for documenting the activities of permanent collegial bodies, and for the safety of documents.
Preparing for meetings
But meetings as a form of collegial decision-making can be held with any composition of participants, not only members of the collegial body. These could be meetings of department heads or meetings of specialists from certain structural units on a specific issue. In any case, when it comes to organizing a meeting of more than 3 people, it cannot be left to chance. The better the preparation of the meeting, the less time will be spent on discussion during the meeting itself and the more effective decisions will be made.
During the preparation of the meeting, documents appear successively, which then become appendices to the minutes, or information from them flows into it.
The first document in this series is agenda I. It is drawn up by the secretary based on the instructions of the chairman (of the collegial body or of this particular meeting) and the provisions of the regulations (if any). When forming the agenda, it is necessary to take into account the complexity of the issues being discussed so that the discussion fits into the time allotted for the meeting.
The agenda is sent to meeting participants and invitees. Several copies of the summons remain with the secretary. They are used to draw up future minutes and to conduct the meeting.
The agenda indicates the number and sequence of issues discussed, the names of the speakers, the date and time of the meeting, as well as its location. Thus, the agenda is simultaneously a notification document about the upcoming meeting and an invitation to participants.
The agenda can take any form. Here are two options: the first is more formal (see Example 1), and the second is suitable for holding operational meetings (see Example 2). Although it is precisely when preparing operational meetings that the secretary often ignores sending out the agenda in writing, limiting himself only to verbally informing the participants.
Sample meeting minutes. How to write a transcript of a discussion. How to write a protocol - instructions and examples. Writing tips, structure, templates (10+)
Minutes of the meeting. Example, template, sample
Structure, meeting minutes template
- Date, time and place of the event
- Initiator
- Person organizing the event (with contact information)
- List of participants (including positions and contact information)
- Composition of the secretariat / full name of the secretary (with contact information)
List of materials that were sent to the meeting
Transcript of the first speaker's speech
- First question (comment) to the first speaker (Who asked, transcript)
- Answer to the first question (Transcript)
- Second question (comment) to the first speaker (Who asked, transcript)
- Answer to the second question (Transcript)
- Last question (comment) to the first speaker (Who asked, transcript)
- Answer to the last question (Transcript)
Transcript of the second speaker's speech
Decisions made
- The first proposal made (wording, who submitted it)
- Voting results (generalized - in case of secret voting, detailed - in case of roll call)
- Second proposal made
- Final wording taking into account the adjustments and amendments made and adopted
- Voting results
- Accepted / rejected / sent for revision
Signature of the secretary (chairman of the secretariat)
Materials for the meeting
Before the meeting, participants are sent materials necessary to prepare the meeting and make decisions, for example, information notes, preliminary versions of documents (plans, contracts, budgets, etc.) that need to be approved at the meeting. All meeting participants are sent information about the date, time and location of the meeting, who initiated the meeting, and the contact person who is organizing the event. You can ask the contact person questions of an organizational nature (how to get there, how to order a pass, where to park the car). Substantive questions are asked to contact persons, who must be indicated in the materials. Different contact persons may be indicated for different materials.
Example, sample protocol
Date, time and place of the meeting: 10/01/2010 12:30 - 13:30 Central office. Meeting room N34.
Initiator: General Director Svistunova Olga Vasilievna
Person organizing the meeting: Assistant to the General Director Erofeev Grigory Anatolyevich ( [email protected], ext. t. 07703)
List of participants
- Svistunova Olga Vasilievna (General Director)
- Ivanov Sergey Semenovich (head of security service) ( [email protected], ext. t. 02345)
- Erokhin Andrey Anatolyevich (Head of Information Technology Service) ( [email protected], ext. t. 02455)
- Trifonov Gennady Petrovich (Head of Financial Department) ( [email protected], ext. t. 01003)
Secretary of the meeting: Assistant to the General Director Grigory Anatolyevich Erofeev
The following were sent to the meeting:
- Internal memo from the head of the security service on the rules for generating employee email addresses
- Proposals from the head of the information technology service on measures to combat spam
Security Chief's Report
The company has adopted rules for encoding employee email addresses (initials and the first two letters of the last name), which allow third parties to easily recognize the email address of any employee. This leads to streams of unauthorized emails with various commercial offers and other useless information.
There were no questions asked regarding the presentation.
Report of the head of the information technology service
There is no option to refuse existing addresses, since they are known to key counterparties and regulatory authorities. I propose that all employees should have another email account for active correspondence. Develop the encoding so that it is not possible to identify the employee’s address by his full name. Configure mail filters so that mail to old addresses is subject to strict filtering. Filtering mail to new addresses should be made more gentle. If possible, notify counterparties of changes in addresses. The work will be carried out by the Information Technology Department.
Question The speaker was asked by the head of the financial department: Have the costs of organizing the proposed system been worked out by the information technology department? Perhaps it would be more efficient to outsource this work?
Answer. No, the issue has not been studied.
Comment head of the financial department: I propose to approve the decision in the following wording: The Information Technology Department should develop measures to correct the situation with email addresses and work out the issue of the costs of their implementation on their own and by outsourcers. Take the least expensive option.
Answer. There are no objections.
Decisions made
Change the order in which email addresses are encoded. Keep email addresses in the old encoding, but strictly filter emails sent to them.
To complete the task, the information technology department will develop a work assignment within five working days. Within another five working days, determine the costs of performing the work yourself and the costs of outsourcing. Decide how the work will be performed based on cost calculations. Carry out the work on your own or by outsourcers within 15 working days. Entrust control over the implementation of the decision to the head of the security service.
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Protocol– a document containing a consistent record of the progress of discussion of issues and decision-making at meetings, sessions, conferences and sessions of collegial bodies.
The protocol reflects the activities of joint decision-making by a collegial body or group of workers. From the minutes of meetings created in the management activities of organizations, it is necessary to distinguish the minutes of investigative, some administrative bodies and public order protection bodies (for example, the protocol of a sanitary inspector, the protocol of a traffic accident, etc.), as well as protocols of the contractual type (protocols of disagreements, protocols reconciliation of disagreements, price agreement protocols, etc.).
Meetings of permanent and temporary collegial bodies (colleges of federal executive bodies, meetings of labor collectives, meetings of shareholders, meetings of boards of directors, etc.) are subject to mandatory minutes.
Minutes are drawn up on the basis of records made during the meeting (meeting), presented abstracts of reports and speeches, certificates, draft decisions and other materials.
The minutes are kept by the secretary or other appointed person. The chairman and secretary leading the meeting are responsible for the accuracy of the entries in the minutes.
Protocols may be issued in full or brief a form in which the discussion of an issue is omitted and only the decision taken on it is recorded.
The decision on what form of minutes to take at a meeting is made by the head of the collegial body or the head of the organization.
The heading of the protocol is the name of the type of collegial activity (meeting, meeting, etc.) and the name of the body whose activities are being recorded (minutes of the meeting of the certification commission...; minutes of the general meeting of shareholders...).
Text full protocol consists of two parts: introductory and main.
IN introductory part the initials and surnames of the chairman (presiding officer), secretary, those present at the meeting and, if necessary, persons invited to the meeting (meeting) are indicated. If representatives of different government bodies and organizations take part in the meeting (meeting), the place of work and position of each person is indicated.
If the number of people present exceeds 15 people, in the introductory part of the protocol a reference is made to the list that is an integral part of the protocol, for example:
Present: 25 people. (list attached).
The words “Chairman”, “Secretary”, “Present” are printed to the left of the zero position of the tabulator (from the field), separated by two intervals from the title and from each other.
The introductory part of the minutes ends with an agenda containing a list of issues to be considered, listed in order of importance, indicating the rapporteur for each issue to be considered. Agenda items are formulated with the preposition “O”, “About”, printed from the left margin and numbered in Arabic numerals.
Main part The text of the protocol consists of sections corresponding to the agenda items. The text of each section is structured according to the following scheme:
LISTENED:...
SPEAKING:...
RESOLVED (DECIDED):...
In the “LISTENED” section the surname and initials of the speaker, the content of his report (message, information, report) are given. If the text of the report is presented by the speaker in written form, it is allowed, after indicating the topic of the speech, to make a note: “the text of the report is attached.”
The “SPEAKERS” section indicates the names and initials of the persons who spoke in the discussion, as well as their speeches, including questions for the speaker. If necessary, after the name of the speaker, his position is indicated.
In the “DECIDED (DECIDED)” section, the decision made is recorded, which is formulated briefly, accurately, and laconically in order to avoid double interpretation. Along with the decision, the number of votes cast “for”, “against”, “abstained”, as well as a list of persons who did not participate in the vote are indicated. The decision may contain one or several points, they are arranged in order of importance, each of them is numbered.
A number is placed before the word “LISTENED” in accordance with the agenda. The words “LISTENED”, “SPEAKED”, “DECIDED (DECIDED)” are printed from the left margin in capital letters and ending with a colon. The text of the sections “LISTENED”, “SPEAKED”, “DECIDED (DECIDED)” is printed at 1.5 line spacing on a new line. Each surname and initials of the speakers is printed on a new line in the nominative case, the recording of the speech is separated from the surname by a hyphen.
Text short protocol also consists of two parts. The introductory part indicates the initials and surnames of the presiding officer (chairman), secretary, as well as the initials and surnames of those present. The word “Present” is printed from the left margin, underlined, and a colon is placed after the word. The names of the positions of those present are printed below, and to the right of the names of the positions are their initials and surnames. Job titles may be indicated generically. Multi-line job titles of those present are printed with 1 line spacing.
The list is separated from the main part of the protocol by a solid line.
The main part of the protocol indicates the number of the issue in accordance with the agenda, the content of the issue and the decisions made. The name of the question is numbered with a Roman numeral and begins with the preposition “O” (“About”), printed centered in font size No. 15 and underlined by one line below the last line at a distance of no more than one space. The names of officials who spoke during the discussion of this issue are indicated below the line. Last names are printed with 1 line spacing. Then the decision taken on the issue is indicated.
Examples of drawing up a full and short protocol are given in Appendix 16 to the Methodological Recommendations for the Development of Instructions for Office Work in Federal Executive Bodies, approved by Order of the Federal Archival Agency of December 23, 2009 No. 76.
The minutes of the meeting are signed by the chairman and secretary. In especially important cases, the protocol must be signed by the speakers; visas are affixed on the left margin of the document at the level of the recording of the speech.
The date of the protocol is the date of the event (meeting, meeting, etc.). If it lasted several days, then the start and end dates of the meeting are indicated through a dash. For example: 06/16-17/2010 or 06/16/2010-06/17/2010.
Minutes are assigned serial numbers within the calendar year separately for each group of protocols: protocols of board meetings, protocols of coordinating, expert councils and other bodies. The minutes of joint meetings have composite numbers, including the serial numbers of the minutes of the organizations that took part in the meeting.
Copies of protocols, if necessary, are sent to interested organizations and officials in accordance with the distribution index; the index is drawn up and signed by the responsible executive of the unit that prepared the consideration of the issue. Copies of protocols are certified by the seal of the Records Management Service.
The decisions made are communicated to the executors in the form of extracts from the protocols, which are drawn up on the appropriate form and certified by the seal of the Office Management Service.
Extract from the protocol is an exact copy of part of the text of the original protocol relating to the agenda item on which the extract is being prepared.
An extract from the minutes reproduces all the details of the form, the introductory part of the text, the agenda item on which the extract is being prepared, and the text reflecting the discussion of the issue and the decision made. The extract from the protocol is signed only by the secretary, who also certifies it.
Regulatory legal acts may establish additional requirements for certain types of protocols that must be taken into account when drawing up and processing them.
For example, when drawing up minutes of meetings of the board of directors (supervisory board) of a joint stock company, the requirements established by the following regulatory legal acts must be taken into account:
- Federal Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ “On Joint-Stock Companies”;
- Code of Corporate Conduct, approved at a meeting of the Government of the Russian Federation on November 28, 2001 (Minutes No. 49), recommended for application by Order of the Federal Commission for the Securities Market dated April 4, 2002 No. 421/r.
Minutes of the meeting– a document that records all the events that take place at a meeting of the enterprise’s employees. It is not a strictly mandatory document, but in some cases it is really necessary.
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Role of the protocol
Meetings in organizations, regardless of their status, business direction and size, are held with a certain frequency. They allow you to solve many current problems, take timely necessary measures to resolve complex issues, determine the company’s development strategy, etc.
However, not all meetings are recorded using minutes and this is not a violation of the law. In principle, the company’s management has the right to determine which meetings need to be recorded and which can be held without drawing up this document.
The main function of the protocol is to record in writing all tasks, questions, opinions voiced at the meeting and, most importantly, collectively made decisions.
The more thorough and detailed the protocol is kept, the better.
Typically, minutes are required for those meetings that have a direct impact on the future of the company. It is also recommended to take minutes of meetings with the participation of representatives of other enterprises and employees of government agencies.
Procedure for the meeting
A meeting is not an event that is held, as they say, on the fly. It requires careful preliminary preparation, which is usually carried out by a responsible employee appointed to this by special order of the director. He collects the necessary documents, writes a list of current issues and pressing problems that need to be solved, notifies all potential participants about the upcoming meeting, and carries out other preparatory activities.
It should be noted that employees of an enterprise who have received information about an upcoming meeting and an invitation to participate in it may refuse, but only if there are valid and sufficiently compelling reasons, since the meeting is part of their job responsibilities.
The meeting usually has its own chairman, who monitors its progress, announces the agenda, and conducts voting. Most often this is the head of the company, but it may also be another employee. In this case, information about the chairman must be included in the minutes.
From the very beginning of the meeting, all events occurring at it are carefully recorded. Moreover, this is done in different ways: keeping a protocol does not exclude the use of photo and video recording.
The minutes after the end of the meeting must be signed by the secretary and chairman of the meeting, as well as, if necessary, by its participants, who thus confirm that all the information included in it is correct.
Who should complete the protocol?
The function of drawing up minutes is usually the responsibility of the secretary of the enterprise or another employee appointed to carry out this mission directly at the meeting. At the same time, the person chosen to keep the protocol must have a clear understanding of how and why this is done and have at least minimal skills in writing protocol documents.
Drawing up a protocol
Today, the law does not provide for a strictly unified form of meeting minutes, so organizations can draw them up in any form or according to a model approved in the company’s accounting policies. However, it is necessary to indicate certain information in it:
- document number;
- creation date;
- name of the organization;
- the locality in which the enterprise is registered;
- list of persons present at the meeting (including their positions, full names);
- information on the meeting chairman and secretary;
- agenda (i.e. those issues that need to be resolved);
- the fact of voting (if it was held) and its results;
- result of the meeting.
Sometimes the exact time (down to minutes) of the start and end of a meeting is included in the minutes - this allows you to discipline employees and optimize the time spent on such meetings in the future.
If necessary, some additional documents, photos and video evidence can be attached to the minutes of the meeting. If there are any, their presence must be reflected in the minutes of the meeting as a separate paragraph.
It should be noted that the protocol must be kept extremely carefully, errors and corrections must be avoided, and it is completely unacceptable to enter unreliable or deliberately false information into it. If such moments are identified in the event of an inspection of the company’s internal documentation by regulatory authorities, the company may suffer serious punishment.
Basic rules for drawing up a protocol
The protocol, as a rule, is drawn up in a single copy, but if necessary, its copies can be made, the number of which is not limited.
The document must be signed by the immediate originator, the secretary, as well as all members of the meeting.
The protocol can be drawn up on a simple A4 sheet or on the organization’s letterhead - it doesn’t matter, just as whether it is kept in handwritten form or filled out on a computer. It is not necessary to certify it with the seal of the enterprise, since since 2016, legal entities by law have every right not to use seals and stamps to certify their documentation.
Once completed and properly endorsed, the minutes should be kept together with other firm documents recording internal meetings, negotiations and meetings. After losing its relevance, it should be sent for storage to the archive of the enterprise, where it must be kept for the period established by law or internal local acts of the company (at least 3 years), after which it can be disposed of (this procedure must also be carried out strictly in the manner prescribed by law) .
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