Meetings minutes or sometimes simply termed as minutes of the meeting is a term that is familiar to most of the people working in any sort of office. Meeting minutes are also called protocols or notes that are made during a meeting. They serve as the summary of the meeting through which one gets complete information about the meeting. It gives the core idea and purpose of the meeting which can be used for later purposes.
The meaning of “minutes”
It will be really interesting to know that the word minutes have been derived from an ancient Latin word “minuta scriptura”. The meaning of minuta scriptura is “small writing”. We can also take the meaning of this word as rough notes as described in literary meaning.
Purpose of minutes of meeting
The minutes of the meeting as noted by the concerned person are the notes, which contain the summary of a meeting. They consist of the important orders and shortlisting of important points discussed in a meeting. They can be typed in rough forms as well as types while the meeting is going on. A person is specially assigned to write the minutes of the meeting everywhere in the world. Minutes of the meeting can also be prepared after recording an audio or video of the meeting while it is held.
A written record of the meetings is the main purpose of the minutes of the meeting. According to the RONR (Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised), minutes of meetings must not include what was done by the meeting members. Rather, they must include what was done in the meeting and what was decided as the future strategy of a particular project.
Format of minutes of the meeting by the doctors
- Minutes of the meeting recorded in a medical meeting are based on the rules and regulations of the organization. As we have mentioned earlier, the basic rules are the same for any minutes of the meeting. But, individual organizations are free to make amendments or changes to the usual rules.
- Most private and corporate organizations keep minutes of meetings as legal documents and are subject to high confidentiality. Doctor’s meeting minutes are no less than that.
- A typical format or template of such meeting minutes can be explained to give you a better idea of how the minutes of the meeting are maintained in a medical meeting.
- On the topmost of the document, the date, and topic of the meeting are mentioned so that anybody can refer to the minutes they are looking for. For example, if the topic of the meeting was “Ergonomic upgradation of the medicine ward”, the minutes will contain this as the heading of the document. Below the heading, we write the date and time on which the meeting was held.
- People present in the meeting are written in the notes with their designation or names or both as required. Then, the points discussed in the meeting are written along with the new decisions made.
