Types of Meeting Minutes

Executive minutes

Executive minutes summarise the details of a meeting for senior executives who need to understand the gist of the discussion and outcomes but do not have time to get into the full details of the debates. They provide a high-level overview, focusing on outcomes, key decisions and action items. This enables leaders to swiftly grasp the direction and implications of the meeting.

In a case where you require a full transcript of the discussion in a meeting, you might take verbatim minutes. These are word-for-word representations of the events of the meeting. In this case, the person taking minutes might use a recording of the meeting on which to base the minutes, keeping both the written and audio records filed away in case they are needed in the future. These are used for high-stakes negotiations, legal proceedings and other such situations where understanding exactly what was said is essential.

For informal meetings, the minute taking process is less strict and used more as a memory aid. There will be a more loose structure and the writing will be more casual. Unlike their formal counterparts, informal minutes prioritise flexibility and spontaneity, offering a snapshot of the meeting’s main ideas. This approach is particularly valuable in creative settings or small team meetings.

Board meetings in corporations, meetings in government bodies and other formal meetings follow strict formats and, as such, must include all of the necessary elements of the meeting including the call to order, the approval of the previous minutes, information on reports and the details of discussions, votes and action items.

For a more in-depth overview of the meeting, many organisations use discussion minutes. These provide a detailed account of the discussions that took place and the essence of the debate around the topics under discussion, including the viewpoints around the table and the reasons for reaching a decision. This is useful for strategic planning, where it is helpful to be able to look back at the information from the conversations.

Action minutes are also called decision-only minutes and document simply the decisions that attendees made and the action points derived from them. They do not record the discussions that took place before the decisions, but rather give a broad overview of the meeting. They are used in operation meetings where the objective is simply to accomplish tasks by identifying what needs to happen and who needs to complete the action.