This document provides guidance for secretaries on how to effectively perform their role. It emphasizes that the secretary is critical to ensuring smooth operations and communication within an organization. Good secretaries are dedicated, organized, and have strong writing skills. The document outlines important tasks for secretaries, such as obtaining past records, developing a filing system, being punctual and prepared, accurately documenting meetings, and following proper meeting minute formatting. Secretaries must ensure the president and organization are well supported through their work.
6. THE SECRETARY
The Secretary is the backbone of a Society
and ensures that everything runs smoothly.
Without you, your president would struggle
to communicate consistently. Meetings would
be chaos and activities would be disorganized.
Being a good secretary means being
dedicated, focused and well organized.
Secretaries need to be hard working,
intelligent, and possess excellent writing skills.
7. THE SECRETARY
Some people think that it is easier to be
secretary than treasurer or president, but
many meeting veterans will tell you that the
secretary's job is much more difficult.
1
Decide that this is the
right job for you.
8. THE SECRETARY
Have him or her give you the previous
meetings' minutes, reports, etc..
2
Meet with the outgoing
secretary if possible.
9. THE SECRETARY
If you received the files in a disorganized
mess, don't leave them that way for the next
secretary when your tenure is completed.
3
Get a filing cabinet or a
briefcase.
10. THE SECRETARY
If your organization's office is not well
organized, this is something that should be
addressed right away.
4
Learn that good
organizational skills
make a good secretary
11. THE SECRETARY
A friendly, professional manner is very
important to an organization's secretary.
5
Develop good contacts
and use them wisely
12. THE SECRETARY
Being on time is a great opportunity to make
your organization happy. Being late can make
most of the members mad.
6
Always be on time
13. THE SECRETARY
Have answers for anticipated questions ready
in the event that the President wants you to
provide information during meetings, etc...
7
Always be ready to
answer unexpected
questions
14. THE SECRETARY
You are expected to know about everything in
the activities of the organization
8
Always know the activity
schedule
15. THE SECRETARY
To prepare for the meeting, follow the steps
below.
• Get a copy of the agenda.
• Find out the meaning of terminology you
don’t understand.
• Read documents that will be tabled at
the meeting.
16. THE SECRETARY
• Sit by the chair so they can see what
you're writing and you can ask for
clarification.
• Have a template or outline for writing
notes. You could use columns: ‘speaker’,
‘item’.
• Leave gaps to return to if necessary.
• Interrupt if you didn’t catch everything.
• Be prepared to review and summarize.
17. THE SECRETARY
• Turn the notes into minutes while still
fresh.
• Be accurate, brief and clear.
• Follow the order of the agenda.
• Check the spelling of each word
• Use quotation marks
18. THE SECRETARY
(Heading)
Minutes of the Meeting
Date: ___________
Series: ____________
Venue: ____________
O.P. (Opening Prayer): __________
P.O. (Presiding Officer): _________
T.S. (Time Started): ____________
Attendance: _________________
RPM (Reading of the previous minutes)