How to take minutes in a meeting
Taking minutes in meetings is essential for good communication and record-keeping in the workplace. It helps teams stay on track and keeps everyone accountable and efficient.
Meeting minutes provide a dependable reference point. You can use these notes to clarify decisions, assign tasks, and monitor progress. Whether you’ve been responsible for preparing minutes for a team meeting before, or are new to the role, understanding how to document discussions can help you balance detail with conciseness like a pro.
In this article, we cover how to write meeting minutes and guide you through the ins and outs of recording them.
Meeting minutes are a formal record of the significant parts of a meeting, and they can serve as an invaluable tool. Rather than transcribing every detail, minutes summarise a meeting’s key points. Below, you can find some benefits of well-written meeting minutes:
Clarity and direction. Effective minutes clearly explain the team's decisions during the meeting and note who is responsible for any action items. This can improve clarity for all team members..
Efficiency and productivity. A succinct, written summary of the meeting serves as a quick reference for everyone. It minimises the need for follow-up meetings or to review long meeting recordings, saving time and resources.
A legal and historical record. Sometimes, meeting minutes are an official record of a company’s decisions and actions for legal purposes. They can also provide a historical account of a company’s decision-making processes.
Communication. For team members who couldn’t attend the meeting, minutes serve as a way of keeping everyone informed.
To ensure thorough and effective meeting minutes, be sure to cover the following points:
The date and time of the meeting.
Attendee list, including those who were invited but couldn’t attend.
Section to review and approve previous meeting minutes.
Clear summary of the team’s decisions for each meeting agenda item.
Actions taken or agreed upon during the meeting, including any next steps.
Results of any votes, specifying motions, seconds, and the voting method (e.g. show of hands).
Date and time of the next meeting.
Follow-up actions, with assigned responsibilities for each.
Taking notes might sound like a straightforward exercise, but meeting minutes can easily become disorganised. The following tips will help you write minutes that are well-structured, thorough and easy to refer back to.
Before the meeting begins, create an outline to help you organise your minutes, separating discussion topics, decisions, and action items.
Make a list of everyone attending the meeting, noting both present members and absentees.
Note decisions or action items as they’re discussed.
If any point is unclear during the meeting, ask for clarification immediately.
Focus on key information only, avoiding the urge to record every meeting detail.
Record the meeting to help verify details when writing your minutes, if permitted.
Keep your minutes clear and direct, avoidingunnecessary elaboration.
Attach any relevant documents to provide context and support for the meeting discussions.
Clearly document decisions made and who is responsible for any actions.
Follow the steps below for a smooth minute-taking process to help you produce a useful document for all meeting participants:
Plan. Review the meeting agenda and previous meeting minutes to familiarise yourself with the topics. Have your minute-taking tools ready, and position yourself in the meeting room where you can see and hear everyone clearly.
Take notes. Focus on recording decisions, actions, and main discussion points. You can use shorthand or symbols to quickly note meeting details without missing important information.
Type up the minutes. Soon after the meeting, transform your rough notes into organised meeting minutes. Consider arranging them in a way that lines up with the meeting agenda for accuracy and clarity.
Distribute the minutes. Promptly distribute the final version of the meeting minutes to everyone involved, emphasising the importance of reviewing them for accuracy and acting on assigned tasks. You might do this through email or your workplace collaboration software.
Store the minutes. Securely file or store the meeting minutes by date and project in a designated area or folder so they can easily be found for future reference. Be sure to comply with data protection laws and any relevant company policies.
When taking meeting minutes, it can be helpful to use a template to guide your approach. You can find two templates for productive meetings below:
Template 1
[Title of meeting]
Location: [Insert location of meeting]
Date: [Insert date of meeting]
Time: [Insert time of meeting]
Attendance: [Insert attendees]
Meeting objectives:
[Insert meeting objectives]
[Agenda item 1]
[Agenda item 2]
Summary of last meeting:
[Insert summary of last meeting]
- [Outstanding item to discuss from the last meeting]
- [Outstanding item to discuss from the last meeting]
- [Outstanding items to discuss from the last meeting]
Today’s discussion points:
- [Discussion point 1]
- [Discussion point 2]
- [Discussion point 3]
Follow-ups for next meeting:
- [Follow-up with assignee 1]
- [Follow-up with assignee 2]
- [Follow-up with assignee 3]
Supporting documentation:
[Insert links to supporting documents]
Template 2
[Insert meeting title]
Date and time: [Insert meeting date and time]
Location: [Insert meeting location]
Attendees:
Present: [Bulleted list of present meeting attendees]
Apologies: [Bulleted list of apologies/absentees]
Review of previous meeting minutes: [Bulleted list of acceptance/amendments]
Decisions on meeting agenda items
Agenda item 1:
[Insert decision]
[Insert person responsible]
[Insert deadline]
(Add more agenda items as needed)
Next steps:
Action 1:
[Insert description]
[Insert assignee]
[Insert deadline]
(Add more actions as needed)
Date and time of next meeting:
Date: [Insert date of meeting]
Time: [Insert time of meeting]
Follow-up actions:
Follow-up action 1:
[Insert description]
[Insert assignee]
[Insert deadline]
(Add more follow-up actions as needed)
Below, you can find two examples of meeting minutes based on the templates we shared above:
Meeting minutes example 1
Monthly Marketing Strategy Meeting
Location: Conference Room B
Date: 15 March 2024
Time: 10:00–11:30
Attendance: John Doe, Jane Smith, Alex Brown, Lisa Ray
Meeting objectives:
- Review last month’s marketing performance.
- Plan marketing strategies for the next quarter.
- Discuss new social media campaign ideas.
Agenda item 1: Review of last month’s performance.
Agenda item 2: Q2 marketing strategy planning.
Summary of last meeting:
- Finalised Q1 marketing budget allocations.
- Agreed to launch a new email marketing campaign targeting returning customers.
Outstanding items from last meeting:
- Finalise the design for the email marketing campaign.
- Update website landing pages to reflect new product launches.
Today’s discussion points:
- Increase of 15% in website traffic in Q1 with no change to conversion rates.
- Budget increase of 20% for social media advertising to boost engagement.
- Collaboration with local influencers to increase brand visibility.
Follow-ups for next meeting:
- John to finalise the Q2 budget allocation by 22 March.
- Jane and Alex to present a detailed plan for the influencer collaboration initiative.
- Lisa to update the team on the email campaign's design progress.
Supporting documentation:
- Q1 performance report: [link to document]
- Proposed Q2 budget spreadsheet: [link to spreadsheet]
- Influencer collaboration plan: [link to presentation]
Meeting minutes example 2
Weekly Sales Team Update
Date and time: 5 April 2024, 9:00–10:00
Location: Meeting Room 3
Present:
- Sarah Connors
- Raj Patel
- Emily Chang
- Mia Williams
Apologies:
- Derek Lee
Review of previous meeting minutes:
- Approved previous minutes without amendments.
Decisions on meeting agenda items:
Agenda item 1: Q2 sales target revision.
- Decision: Increase Q2 sales targets by 10% based on Q1 performance.
- Person responsible: Emily Chang
- Deadline: 12 April 2024
Next steps:
Action 1:
- Description: Prepare a detailed report on potential markets for expansion.
- Assignee: Raj Patel
- Deadline: 19 April 2024
Date and time of next meeting:
- Date: 12 April 2024
- Time: 9:00–10:00
Follow-up actions:
Follow-up action 1:
- Description: Update the sales training manual to include new product features.
- Assignee: Leo Smith
- Deadline: 26 April 2024
When taking meeting minutes, aim for quality over quantity. Spend 15–30 minutes on them for most meetings. Of course, you can adjust this time according to the meeting's complexity and importance. Be thorough without sacrificing efficiency. To do this, use a meeting minutes template, focus on critical information, and record discussions to streamline the process.
Whether you can use artificial intelligence (AI) to write your meeting minutes usually depends on approval from your manager. Below, you can explore some of the pros and cons of using AI to help with this task:
Pros
- Using AI can minimise the time and effort you spend summarising meetings. This significantly streamlines the minute-taking process.
- AI can capture information in more detail than manual note-taking, giving you a more complete record of meetings.
- Meeting minutes that AI generates can be free from personal biases that might influence the interpretation of the meeting.
Cons:
- AI technologies can stall when there’s technical jargon or nuanced dialogue. This may cause confusion or incomplete meeting minutes.
- To function at their best, AI tools often require the input of specific training data tailored to the situation. This process can be complex and time-consuming to conduct.
- Using AI for minute-taking can raise ethical concerns. It risks exposing sensitive information, which might compromise data privacy and confidentiality.
- AI technologies can misunderstand discussions or leave out vital information, which can decrease the reliability of the meeting minutes.
Before integrating AI into your minute-taking process, it’s important to ask your manager for approval. Make sure the use of AI aligns with company policies and data protection standards.
Well-executed meeting minutes are an essential part of effective team communication. They provide clarity and direction for all stakeholders. Great meeting minutes balance detail and succinctness reflect the team’s decisions and actions while remaining accessible to everyone. Take a careful approach when using AI in the minute-taking process. While the technology has benefits, try to ensure the accuracy of the message and preserve the human touch.
FAQs
What’s the purpose of meeting minutes?
Meeting minutes are an official record of the discussions, decisions, and assignments that take place during a meeting. They ensure accountability and provide a reference for future actions.
How can I improve my note-taking skills in meetings?
Consider listening actively, using shorthand or symbols for efficiency, and focusing on essential information. You can also review the agenda before the meeting and use a template to organise your minutes.
Are there any tools to automate meeting minute generation?
Yes, several tools are available to automate meeting minute generation. They include digital note-taking applications, AI transcription services, and meeting-management software. These tools offer features such as speech-to-text conversion and note organisation based on templates.
What are the best practices for sharing meeting minutes with team members?
Use clear and concise language, distribute the minutes shortly after the end of the meeting, and share them through channels team members use often.
How long should meeting minutes be retained for reference?
Typically, you should keep minutes for operational meetings for at least 12 months. For board meetings or others that are mandatory by law or regulation, it’s generally advisable to retain them indefinitely or according to legal and company policy.
