Minutes and Narrative Report Writing
- 1. WRITING THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING AND THE NARRATIVE REPORT Michael Bryan Z. Rayos Course Lecturer, Technical Writing Camarines Norte State College – Entienza Campus
- 2. OUTLINE •Technical Writing in a Nutshell •Minutes of the Meeting Defined •Purpose of the Minutes •Who Prepares the Minutes? •What are the Requirements? •Types of Minutes •Essential Parts of the Minutes •How to Write the Minutes
- 3. OUTLINE •Narrative Report Defined •Purpose of the Narrative Report •Types of Narration •Basic Parts of a Narrative Report •Structure of a Narrative Report •Tips/Guidelines in Writing the Narrative Report
- 4. TECHNICAL WRITING IN A NUTSHELL
- 5. TECHNICAL WRITING CREATIVE WRITING Content factual, straight-forward imaginative, metaphoric or symbolic Audience specific general Purpose inform, instruct, persuade entertain, provoke, captivate Style formal, standard, academic informal, artistic, figurative Tone objective subjective Vocabulary specialized general, evocative Organization sequential, systematic arbitrary, artistic
- 6. WRITING THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING
- 7. Minutes of the Meeting • official record of what happened and what was discussed at a meeting (Egipto, 2005) • written record of what took place at a meeting (Taylor, 2004) • records not only the decisions but also the flow of discussions so that the bases for decisions may be clear in the future (Bouing, 2006)
- 8. Minutes of the Meeting also known as “protocols”
- 9. Purpose of Minutes •The basic purpose is to provide a historical account of official business conducted during a meeting and supporting a group as it carries out its responsibilities.
- 10. Who Prepares the Minutes of the Meeting? • Normally, a person is formally designated as secretary or a recorder to prepare the minutes. • In some groups, a secretary or clerk performs the task of taking the minutes. Who Prepares the Minutes? • Normally, a person is formally designated as secretary or a recorder to prepare the minutes. • In some groups, a secretary or clerk performs the task of taking the minutes.
- 11. Who Prepares the Minutes of the Meeting? • Normally, a person is formally designated as secretary or a recorder to prepare the minutes. • In some groups, a secretary or clerk performs the task of taking the minutes. What are the requirements? Focus Alertness Comprehension
- 12. Types Minutes of the Meeting •Verbatim Minutes •Summary Minutes •Action Minutes
- 13. Verbatim Minutes • are usually prepared by secretaries of a government legislature, council, or lawmaking body • everything transpired during the meeting shall exactly form the minutes even if it is time- consuming and expensive
- 14. Verbatim Minutes • minutes of the annual meeting are also transcribed in verbatim minutes to safeguard the validity and reliability because it transpired during a crucial meeting
- 15. Verbatim Minutes • record of every single word said at a meeting • will not always follow the agenda • are often long and can be difficult
- 17. Summary Minutes • provides a record of all information not necessarily word for word but a summary of the discussion and action on all agenda items • usually contains the proceedings of meetings conducted at shorter intervals of time
- 18. Summary Minutes • short and free from the complexities • most commonly used in the office • normally written in full sentences rather than bullet points
- 20. Action Minutes • contains identifying information, brief summary of discussions made and key information presented • emphasizes decisions, tasks, and actions to be done related to the proceeding, thus making this minutes quickly and easily prepared
- 21. Action Minutes • written in the form of a list of steps required, who should take tem and when • purpose of this is to provide only a record of decisions that require an action
- 23. ESSENTIAL PARTS OF THE MINUTES
- 24. • Heading • Title of the Meeting • Attendance • Call to Order • Approval of the Minute of the Previous Meeting • Business Arising from the Previous Minutes of the Meeting • New Business (Agenda) • Adjournment • Signature
- 25. Heading contains the complete name and address of the company; may include contact number and email address
- 26. Title of the Meeting includes the date, day, and starting time of the meeting; also, the venue or location of the meeting is included
- 27. Attendance the complete list of names of all the attendees of the meeting
- 28. Attendance most of the time, the attendance sheet is listed on a separate sheet of paper that is being attached to the meeting
- 29. Attendance the attendance of the meeting is divided into three components:
- 30. Present - the complete list of names of all those who are present at the meeting; Regrets - the complete list of names of those who have contacted the chairman or presiding officer to let them know that they will be unable to attend the scheduled meeting; Absent - the complete list of those who are absent at the meeting
- 31. Note on the Attendance: Usually the attendance of the meeting is being checked, monitored, and approved by the secretary. The general rule in establishing the quorum of the meeting is half plus one of the total number of attendees.
- 32. Call to Order consists of the exact time of the scheduled meeting
- 33. Call to Order In this part, the complete name and position of the one who set the meeting is stated; you may refer to the Notice of Meeting for the details needed in this part
- 34. Approval of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting contains the motion to approve the minutes of the previous or last meeting as circulated to approve the minutes as amended; the attendees of the meeting may correct or revise the minutes of the previous meeting
- 35. Business Arising from the Previous Minutes of the Meeting includes some agenda from the previous meeting that are needed to be reviewed and needed to take immediate action
- 36. New Business refers to the agenda of the meeting; you may refer to the Notice of the Meeting to follow the flow of the agenda of the meeting;
- 37. New Business Other agenda that are not listed may be added in the other matters
- 38. New Business the heart of every minutes of the meeting; this should be carefully written; every detail should be included and specified so that nothing will be overlooked
- 39. Adjournment is composed of the exact time the meeting was adjourned or ended by the chairman or presider
- 40. Signature contains the signature over complete name of the secretary who prepared the minutes of the meeting
- 41. HOW TO WRITE MINUTES
- 43. 1 • Take note of pertinent details regarding the meeting: - type of meeting - agenda - date and time - attendance - venue - time started - presiding officer - time ended
- 44. 2 • For easy facility, prepare your attendance sheet.
- 45. 3 • Prepare an outline based from the agenda.
- 46. For example: Agenda: 1. Participants of CNSC Community Week ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________
- 47. 4 • Study the issues to be discussed and ask questions ahead of time.
- 48. 5 • Prepare materials convenient for writing like bond paper, note pad, laptop, tape recorder, steno pad, or stenographic machine.
- 50. 1 • Be able to know the name of each attendee by making a map or tags for seating arrangement. • You may also request unfamiliar participants to identify themselves. • This will help you to keep track of who said what.
- 51. 2 • Concentrate on getting the essential elements of discussion and take enough notes to be summarized later.
- 52. 3 • Ask for clarification if things are not understood.
- 53. 4 • Do not fail to take note of the items discussed, decisions reached, and action decided on.
- 55. 1 • Immediately transcribe the minutes after the meeting for you not to forget anything regarding the meeting.
- 56. 2 • The minutes should be approved by the presiding officer before they shall be distributed to the members.
- 57. 3 •Use full names not nicknames.
- 59. What is a Narrative Report? •It is an informational work made with the intention of relaying information or recounting certain events in a presentable manner.
- 60. What is a Narrative Report? •It present things or events that has happened in the past through a logical progression of the relevant information.
- 61. What is a Narrative Report? •Narrative Report is always written in a sequential manner in order of occurrence.
- 62. What is a Narrative Report? •It is most widely used.
- 63. What is a Narrative Report? •Narration does not tell about the story, it tells the story. •It places the events before our eyes.
- 64. Purpose of a Narrative Report •The main purpose of a narrative report is to present a clear and factual depiction of what has occurred.
- 65. Types of Narration •Objective Narration (narration of fact) •Subjective Narration (fiction)
- 66. Basic Parts of a Narrative Report •Cover Page •Content Page - Heading - Title - Content • Appendix / Appendices
- 67. How to Write the Narrative Report •Generally, you should account all the details while maintaining the logical sequence.
- 68. How to Write the Narrative Report •A narrative report should have the following:
- 69. Statement of the thesis or the event •You should state the context of the focal event of your report, its time, place, and actors.
- 70. Any background information related to this thesis •Sometimes, you can provide information about events that preceded the key event, in case they are relevant.
- 71. Chronological account of the event or a series of events •It should be detailed as possible. •Don’t forget to mention the exact time and all the relevant numbers that can be applied. •If there are accounts from other witnesses or actors, your should quote them as well.
- 72. Summary of the event.
- 73. How Long Should Your Narrative Report Be? As long and informative as you can make it.
- 74. Tips/Guidelines in Writing the Narrative Report
- 75. 1 •Be a living witness of the activity. •You cannot write the narrative report if you are not present during the activity / event.
- 76. 2 •Before/during the event, gather all the available materials relevant to the activity or event such as the program. •This can be of great help in writing the report.
- 77. 3 •Document the proceedings of the activity. •Take note all the activities that transpired during the activity/event. •Take photos and video-record the activity.
- 78. 4 •After the event, immediately write the first draft of you report.
- 79. 5 •During writing, be able to answer all the information questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
- 80. 6 •To provide a logical and coherent of narration, use transitional connectors or transitional devices.
- 81. 7 •Because you are to narrate a completed event, use the past tense of the verb. conduct - conducted take - took
- 82. 8 •Check your grammar and other mechanics. Subject and verb agreement Tense of the Verb Point of View (Third Person Omniscient)
- 83. 9 •During editing, apply the formal format in writing: paper size, font style, font size, print color, margins, line spacing, etc.
- 84. 10 •Attach all the necessary documents in your appendix/appendices page.
- 85. 11 •Check for the content of your paper: facts and figures. •Read your document backwards to check for the spelling.
- 86. 12 •Make a habit of saving your document while typing/encoding.
- 87. 13 •Triple check your work. •Edit, re-edit, edit, re-edit, final edit, final-final edit
- 88. 14 •Make the final copy clean. •It should be free from all smudges. •Do not submit a crumpled report.
- 89. 15 •Relax. Don’t get pressured. It might reflect in your work.