How to write meeting minutes: format, template and action items

What are meeting minutes for?

They exist so that decisions do not depend on anyone's memory. Minutes put in writing what was agreed, who will do what and by when, so that a person who missed the meeting can catch up in two minutes and the next meeting can check what actually got done.

They are not a transcript. If someone needs to know exactly what was said, the recording answers that, or a transcript made with an audio to text tool. Minutes are the outcome of the meeting, not its story.

What should meeting minutes include?

Seven elements, almost always in this order:

• Basics: meeting name, date, time and place or platform.
• Attendees and, where it matters, who was absent. Also who took the minutes.
• Agenda or topics covered, in the order they were handled.
• Decisions: what was decided, one per line.
• Action items: what will be done, who will do it and by when.
• Open questions: issues raised and left unresolved.
• Next meeting: date, time and what will be reviewed.

What does a simple meeting minutes template look like?

One that fits on a page. This example uses made-up details to show the level of detail, and it can be copied into any document or email.

Action items go in their own table, because they are what people come back to:

How do you write decisions and action items clearly?

Write each item so that someone who was not there understands it. The test is simple: if that person can read the line and say what was decided or what they have to do, it is well written.

Decisions

• Use a full sentence with a verb. "New form" says nothing; "The new form is adopted starting Monday the 10th" does.
• Separate what was decided from what was discussed. "We talked about switching suppliers" is not a decision. If nothing was decided, it belongs under open questions.
• Include the condition, if there is one. "The purchase is approved provided the quote stays within the assigned budget."
• Confirm out loud before moving on. Asking "So we are agreed that...?" keeps each attendee from leaving with a different version.

Action items

• Start with an action verb: send, call, review, book. "Look into the contract thing" is not a task.
• One owner. "The team" or "Marta and Peter" tends to mean nobody does it. Others can help, but one person answers for it.
• A date, not an intention. "Friday, March 7" rather than "soon" or "next week".
• If no owner or deadline was stated, say so. Writing "not specified" beats assuming: it shows that something still needs to be settled.

What mistakes make meeting minutes useless?

• Narrating the discussion. "Luis felt that..., Marta replied that..." makes the minutes longer and buries the outcome. The decision is enough, with one line of reasoning if needed.
• Tasks with no owner or no date. Those are wishes, not commitments.
• Sending them a week later. By then everyone remembers something different and the tasks are already late. Same day is best.
• Mixing decisions with ideas. Anything left "to be looked at" is not a decision.
• Never reviewing the previous minutes. Opening each meeting by going through outstanding action items is what gives minutes their value.
• Filing them where nobody can find them. Use the same location and the same naming pattern every time.

Are formal board or assembly minutes different?

Yes, in their formalities. Minutes of boards, shareholder or member meetings, committees and similar bodies may carry their own requirements: quorum, a record of votes, signatures, a designated minute book and deadlines for approval. Those requirements depend on the country, the type of organization and its bylaws.

This guide is for working meetings. If your minutes must satisfy a legal or bylaw requirement, check your organization's rules or ask whoever advises it before treating them as valid.

Can you record a meeting to write the minutes?

Yes, and it helps a great deal, as long as attendees know. Say at the start that you are recording and why, and get everyone's agreement; rules on recording conversations vary by country, and many organizations have their own policy. If someone objects, take notes by hand.

With the recording, our meeting minutes tool returns the transcript plus minutes with a summary, the decisions that were actually made, and action items with an owner and a deadline only when those were stated in the meeting. If they were not mentioned, they are marked as not specified rather than filled in with a guess.

How should you review AI-written meeting minutes?

Item by item, before you send them. Automatically generated minutes are a good draft and save the slowest part of the job, but whoever sends them answers for what they say. Three failures are typical:

• Attributing a statement to the wrong person. It happens with similar voices or when several people talk at once. Check every owner.
• Missing an implicit decision. If the decision was made with an "OK, let's do that" or with silence, it may not be captured. Compare the draft with your own memory of the meeting.
• Inventing or assuming an owner or a date. If you do not remember it being said, look for it in the transcript.

Check proper names and figures too. If the meeting relied on a long report, summarize document lets you attach its key points to the minutes.

Checklist before sending

1. It has the date, attendees and agenda.
2. Each decision is a full sentence that stands on its own.
3. Each action item has an action, one owner and a date, or says it was not specified.
4. Open questions are kept apart from decisions.
5. The date and purpose of the next meeting are there.
6. Owners and figures match what was said.
7. It goes out the same day to all attendees and anyone else who needs to know.