Unit 5 Minutei
Meeting minutes，like meeting notes，are generally referred to as the brief but accurate records of a formal or informal meeting.But compared with meeting notes，minutes are more formal and they serve as a written record to be kept for future reference and are often required by organizational bylaws.Business talks，discussions，negotiations and so on are generally conducted in different forms of meetings and business meetings may be conducted formally or informally，depending on the company and circumstances，so meeting minutes are supposed to be taken accordingly.
We generally agree that at a meeting，both the organizer and participants of a meeting will intend to go somewhere and endeavor to accomplish something.We often attribute an inefficient meeting to either a weak chair or poor minutes.When our meeting minutes aren't effective，we waste the time we spent in meetings.Without good meeting minutes，we may not remember or recognize：
●What we decided in the meeting；
●What we accomplished in the meeting；
●What we agreed to in terms of next steps（action items）.
And when we cannot remember the above items，we end up going in different directions and then meeting again for the same original purpose.
To avoid wasting your time spent in meetings，be sure your minutes answer these questions：
●When was the meeting？
●Who attended？
●Who did not attend？（Include this information if it matters）(https://www.daowen.com)
●What topics were discussed？
●What was decided？
●What actions were agreed upon？
●Who was to complete the actions？By when？
●Were materials distributed at the meeting？If so，are copies or a link available？
●Is there anything special the reader of the minutes should know or do？
●Is a follow-up meeting scheduled？If so，when，where and why？
According to the degree of the formality of meetings，we usually classify meeting minutes into two types，namely，informal and formal meeting minutes.
When a meeting is held on a quite informal occasion，its minutes can be quite informal，too.Informal minutes usually cover a comprehensive summary，and the minutes taker，in his minutes writing，jogs down or takes down，one after another，the important events of the meeting such as motions，major proposals，plans and resolutions.
Formal minutes are those that usually follow parliamentary procedure，more than often they focus on the specific actions taken at the meeting，including committee reports heard and accepted and motions made and passed.