As everyone has already mentioned, taking minutes at meetings are obviously important. I was the secretary of the executive board of my fraternity for a few years and one of my responsibilities was to take the minutes. It is important to note that when taking the minutes, every single word does not have to be recorded. They should be detailed, but only the important items that may need to be referred to at a later time should be written down. Along with the minutes, it is equally important to have an agenda prepared before meetings. This makes meetings go much smoother and much more organized.