4

What do we call a person who takes the minutes in a meeting?

Is it a minute taker, reporter?

Improve this question
3
  • Is the recording of minutes one of the person's primary responsibilities, and is it ongoing? That will make the distinction between a recording secretary and a rapporteur, for example.
    – choster
    Nov 12, 2015 at 19:02
  • 1
    A minute is a unit of time. "Minutes", only plural, a summary of what was said at a meeting.
    – rogermue
    Nov 12, 2015 at 23:40
  • At my place of business the person taking the minutes is listed as the Recorder.
    – Connie
    Feb 20, 2017 at 15:51

6 Answers 6

Reset to default
5

For the sake of providing an answer, the appropriate answer is "minutes taker", which you provided in your question.

Minute taker

A minutes taker is the attendee at meeting whose role it is to record the minutes of the meeting. The note taker may be a formal, professional note taker, whose only job is to take notes, or they may be an active participant in the meeting who has taken on the role for that specific meeting.

Take note: A Company Secretary is a person who is supposed to keep the records of a company (for reference, retrieval, etc.). Of course there are other definitions (responsibilities & functions); just want to point out that it is not necessary that a company secretary is always a minutes taker. (This is based on what I notice every time I attend a board meeting)

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    A CS is also a minute taker.
    – Usernew
    Nov 12, 2015 at 13:31
  • 1
    @Usernew, yes, but as stated, it not necessary that a CS is always a minute taker.
    – shin
    Nov 12, 2015 at 13:32
  • Are you saying minutes taker, minute taker, or both? This site uses minutes-taker. To me, it should be plural minutes, since that is what the noun itself is. You take and read the minutes of a meeting, not the minute.
    – Alan Carmack
    Sep 11, 2016 at 20:51
4

"Note taker" and "secretary" are common terms in the United States. These terms are used for casual meetings.

On formal committees with formal titles such as "President", "Vice President", and "Treasurer", the "Secretary" is responsible for the taking of the minutes, and for reading a summary of the minutes at the following meeting. (If the committee has a hired staff, a staff member often takes the minutes. The "Secretary" is responsible for whether the task was done correctly, and for reading the summary at the next meeting.)

Improve this answer
2

The person who takes meeting notes is the scribe.

From a page of Meeting Tips:

The scribe's job is to record what happened, especially the decisions reached and committments made.

See also this answer on English.SE.

Improve this answer
1

In the Episcopal Church, the Registrar is the position on the Vestry specifically tasked with taking minutes at Vestry meetings. He/she is elected from within the Vestry and also responsible for reviewing previous minutes at the beginning of each meeting.

Improve this answer
1
  • I think the OP needs a word to be used in a more generic context :)
    – virolino
    Apr 5, 2019 at 12:40
0

That person who records all the information in a meeting is called a Company Secretary. (Abbreviated as CS.)

Definition of a Company Secretary from businessdictionary:

Officer appointed by the directors of a firm as responsible for ensuring that firm's legal obligations under the corporate legislation are complied with. His or her formal duties include (1) calling meetings, (2) recording minutes of the meetings, (3) keeping statutory record books, (4) proper payment of dividend and interest payments, and (5) proper drafting and execution of agreements, contracts, and resolutions.

Reporter, on the other hand, is a person who writes news stories for a newspaper, magazine, etc., or who tells people the news on radio or television. - Merriam-Webster

EDIT:

I am not saying that only a CS can take minutes in a meeting. It can be a person appointed by a chairman also. But, It is is generally a CS or a secretary(of a committee or company) in India who records the meeting. A minute-taker can also be a CS or secretary or any other person who records the meeting. But I have rarely heard the term "minute-taker."

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    Someone who takes minutes isn't necessarily a Company Secretary though.
    – Richard
    Nov 12, 2015 at 10:14
  • 1
    @Richard Right, but I cannot comment about your country; in India, a CS does the job of recording the minutes in a meeting. However, Where there is no Company Secretary, it shall be entered by any other person duly authorized by the Board or by the Chairman.
    – Usernew
    Nov 12, 2015 at 13:29
  • Although one of the duties of a Company Secretary may be to record Board meetings, that doesn't mean that anyone who takes minutes is a Company Secretary. What if that person was taking minutes at their local housing association meeting?
    – Richard
    Nov 12, 2015 at 13:42
  • @Richard Minutes can be recorded by a CS, a secretary, minute-taker, any other person, I never said that only a CS can record the minutes. Further, many organisations opt for Audio and Video recording or minutes recording softwares. But that is not what the OP is looking for. And we can not talk about every type of meeting here. Nobody records the minutes of a parent-teacher meeting. ;) As I said before, in India, it is generally the CS and secretary who records the minutes and are also called "minute-taker."
    – Usernew
    Nov 12, 2015 at 13:52
0

In my organisation they are called RAPPORTEUR. who is a person appointed by the organization to report o the proceedings of the meeting.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .