Meeting minutes allow professionals to review the topics they discussed during important company meetings or conferences. They remind meeting participants of their duties and help them remain accountable. Learning what to include in meeting minutes and how to write them can help you remember important items of discussion more easily and ensure that your team members stay productive prior to their next meeting.
In this article, we explain what meeting minutes are, detail what to include in them, describe how to write them and offer a few tips for writing effective meeting minutes.
What are meeting minutes?
Meeting minutes are notes that recap the events that occurred during an organizational meeting. They function as a written record for a given meeting, including the projects that managers or supervisors assigned, the employees to whom they assigned those projects, the requirements for them to follow and any other important workplace decisions mentioned during it.They help employees who attended the meeting remember what they discussed during the meeting and notify employees who couldn’t attend of what the meeting was about so they don’t miss any important information.
What to include in meeting minutes
When creating meeting minutes, consider any details that you feel might be beneficial for meeting participants to reference at a later time. In addition, determine how much content you want to include in them to use as a reference for future planning. Here are the primary elements to include when writing meeting minutes:
- Why the meeting happened
- First and last names of attendees
- The date and time of the meeting
- Projects assigned during the meeting and their deadlines
- Decisions employees and leadership made during the meeting
- Any corrections to previous meeting minutes
- Motions that passed or failed
- Date and time of the next meeting, if applicable
How to write meeting minutes
Here are seven steps you can take to write and distribute meeting minutes:
1. Prepare a template before the meeting
To ensure you’re prepared for the meeting, create a template or an outline with the necessary information filled out directly before the meeting is to occur. This can help you save time during the meeting and concentrate on taking more relevant notes. In your template, create placeholders for specific items of discussion and information. Consider discussing what information is most important for you to include in the minutes with the professional who’s planning to lead the meeting if you’re unsure. You can also request to view past meetings to learn how to format your minutes properly. Once you know what to include in the minutes, you can edit your template and begin filling in the blank fields. Here are some placeholders you might want to include in your template:
- Organization name
- Meeting purpose
- Start and end times
- Date and location
- List of attendees and absentees, if necessary
- Space for important information like motions passed or deadlines given
- Space for your signature and the meeting leader’s signature
- An agenda, if the meeting leader provided you with one
2. Take notes during the meeting
Once the meeting starts, you can begin taking notes about important actions, decisions, assigned projects and discussions that occur during it. Try to limit your notes to the most important information provided by participants, rather than attempting to document everything they mention. If a participant tries to pass a motion, document who requested the motion, what it was and if it was able to pass. In addition, document each time a vote occurs among participants. Record the names of participants who provide reports or presentations and summarize their contents. You can also note any assignment updates or new projects that managers assign to employees. Include the name of the project or assignment, along with its details and due date. If possible, include a timeline for completing the project and submitting the deliverables associated with it. Depending on the meeting, it may also be necessary to note any discussions that occur. If you’re recording a conversation, use objective language and try to avoid using adjectives or including your personal opinion.
3. Collect copies of any reports or presentations
If any participants shared a report or presentation, request the documents or slides associated with it after the meeting from the presenter or meeting leader. If they’re unable to provide you with a physical copy, ask if they can email it to you.Once you receive the necessary materials from the report or presentation, you can attach it to your meeting minutes to share with participants. This can help them remember what the topic of discussion was and help the people who couldn’t attend view the information they missed.
4. Review your notes
After you ensure that you have all the additional materials required for your meeting minutes, note the time that the participants concluded the meeting. Review your notes to make sure that you didn’t miss any important information and to determine if there’s anything that might be useful for you to add. If the person you need additional information from is still present in the meeting room, ask for their assistance if they’re not busy. If you aren’t able to collect information from someone in person, you can send a professional email asking for these details shortly after the meeting.
5. Create a final draft
As soon as you’ve finished writing your notes, type them into paragraphs while you still remember them clearly. Write a separate paragraph for each decision or action from the meeting and emphasize what the meeting accomplished. Keep your meeting minutes in the same present tense throughout the entire document and ensure that the verbiage is objective and easy for the participants to understand.Once you’ve typed your minutes, you can number the pages if there’s more than one page. Attach any important supporting documents and proofread for clarity, spelling and grammatical issues.
6. Request approval from leadership
After creating a final draft of your meeting minutes, you can send them to the meeting leader or your immediate supervisor for approval. Before you do this, make sure you include your name on the document as the person who created them. Depending on your organization, it may also be necessary for you to submit the meeting minutes to several people to receive their signatures of approval and any final requests. If they read the minutes and request any corrections, apply them quickly and note them in the minutes before sending them out.
7. Deliver the meeting minutes
When you’re ready to share your minutes, ask the meeting leader for guidance on how to distribute the document to all the participants. While you can submit most meeting minutes by email, it’s useful to learn the method your leadership prefers. Ensure that you send the minutes with the necessary documents attached and that you provide them to all the participants, including those who didn’t attend. It’s beneficial to verify the list of participants with the meeting organizer. In addition, ask them if they’d like you to send the minutes to any additional employees who weren’t on the participant list.
Tips for writing meeting minutes
Here are some tips to help you write more effective meeting minutes:
Distribute an attendance sheet if needed
Since your supervisor or meeting leader may not provide you with a list of participants prior to the meeting, it’s useful to create an attendance sheet for participants to fill out on the day of the meeting. Have them include their name and contact information, such as an email address. This ensures that you’re able to send the documents to the necessary employees after the meeting.
Record only important meeting items
Verify with your manager or meeting leader what items they’d like you to record once again prior to the meeting. Once you know what to document, you can make your writing more concise by only writing important meeting items.Consider using bullet points to keep your main points brief and improve readability. This helps you become more prepared for the next time your manager may require you to write meeting minutes.
Use shorthand to help you write quicker
Shorthand is a method of writing that can help you record ideas quicker and include more information. Developing a shorthand can help you document meeting information more efficiently. For example, you could write each participant’s initials rather than using their full names or use acronyms to present processes or phrases regularly used during meetings.
Use a recording device
To help you remember everything that the participants discussed during the meeting, consider bringing a device to record the full meeting. This can be especially useful if a meeting leader requests that you include more information than usual.You can refer to the device as you’re typing up your meeting minutes to ensure that you were able to include the most pertinent information. Before the meeting, it’s good etiquette to request approval from the meeting leader and to inform the participants of your intention to record them and obtain their consent.
Find a pre-made template
Consider using a pre-made template to structure your meeting minutes. You can search for one online, save it and edit it to fit your desired format. After you find the right template, you can refer to it regularly for each meeting. This allows you to ensure consistency and enables participants to retrieve the information they need quickly.
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