THE ok has the intention or objective of carrying out records of ideas, information and decisions made by a community. It is an important and efficient resource for documenting everything that was discussed and deliberated in assemblies, congresses, conferences, and, above all, meetings. It is a formal document that can have legal effects.
Read too: Differences between technical and literary writing
Characteristics of a minute
the minutes must record both discussions and deliberations. performed by the group. As a rule, the text it is handwritten in its own book and signed by all those present. So that there is no danger of fraud, the text is not written in paragraph and no lines are skipped, therefore, it is plain text, and the signatures are arranged one after the other, in the sequence of the text, since the structure of the minutes do not admit that there are blank spaces.
The minutes are usually produced by a person who assumes a specific position in a corporation, institution, condominium or entity - often called the general secretary - and which has the assignment to write the text, read it at the end of the event, collect the signatures, keep the book minutes and, if applicable, register the document in registry.
It can be said that the gender ata has as one of its most interesting features the polyphony, as it gathers various discursive voices, for containing several transcribed and/or adapted speeches to the written modality. This means that, although there is only one person writing the text, the effect that is generated is that of existence of several authors, because whoever writes must contemplate the speech of those who manifested themselves during the meeting.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
Important! as the minutes cannot be modified in any way. after its writing, it is essential that all possible corrections are carried out in the act of writing, not admitting, therefore, erasures or the use of corrections. Faced with a possible registration error, expressions such as “I say” or “in time” are welcome.
Regardless of the type of meeting, all minutes must include the date and place of the event, as well as information such as the Schedule which was discussed, the decisions on each point of the meeting, as well as the most relevant issues dealt with by the group and the signatures.
although the textual structure of the minutes is simple, it is required that the (a) writer (a) master the standard rule of the Portuguese language, because it is technical text, and who also knows how to articulate efficiently sequencesnarratives and descriptive, in order to be faithful to what was exposed during the event.
See too: Five Habits to Improve Your Writing
How to take minutes of a formal meeting
- As a rule, the opening of the minutes includes the date (in full), the place, time and name of the entity or institution that is meeting.
- According to the statute of each entity or institution, the legality of the meeting must be registered, that is, inform if there is sufficient quorum for its accomplishment, if it is in accordance with a previously published notice, among other important information, such as if there was a justified absence of any member of that collective.
- The agenda or agenda must be registered, as well as the subsequent discussions held on each of the items presented, as well as the pertinent deliberations. At this point, it is necessary to inform if there was any kind of vote and its respective results.
- At the end of the minutes, decisions and referrals are resumed and recorded, in addition to the tasks assigned to the members of the group. Most of the time, the drafter of the minutes presents a closing formula like: "There being nothing else to if this is the case, I, So-and-so, have drawn up these minutes, which, after being read and approved, will be signed by all gifts.”
- As it is formal, this type of minutes is commonly registered at a notary's office, since it deals with deliberations carried out by institutions, entities, companies or even sectors of public power.
How to take minutes of an informal meeting
The simple minutes, or the informal meeting minutes, usually contain the elements present in the formal minutes, but in a more concise and without the need for a registry office.
Thus, repeat the structure place, date, time, name of the people present or the entity that held the meeting, the agenda and the decisions that were taken, the assignments of tasks, the record of the agreements made, the closing formula and the signatures of the gifts. In this modality, it is common to collect signatures on a different date from the event.
In this text, it was possible to get in touch, in detail, with the essential elements of production of the genre ata – important tool for recording meetings of various natures, with the objective of signing commitments and ensuring transparency of relationships collectives.
by Sara de Castro
Writing Teacher
