How to Write Meeting Minutes
Note, Revise, Send
Have you ever left a meeting thinking “so what am I supposed to do again?” or attended a follow-up meeting and thought “so what did we agree last time?”
This can be avoided by ensuring that someone in the meeting has been tasked with sending the meeting minutes.
The minutes are a recap of what was discussed and agreed upon during the meeting, shared with all meeting attendees — generally via email.
If you find yourself responsible for the minutes and you’re not sure of the best method, this post is for you.
Here’s my process for creating the minutes
Before the meeting
Setup a space for writing your notes. I use Microsoft OneNote, which has a neat trick for linking a meeting invite to your minutes
Create Blank OneNote page
On the Ribbon, Select Home > Meeting Details > Select Meeting Name
The meeting details will magically be inserted into the blank page, as well as an area for writing the notes. Your space is now ready
During the meeting
Note key moments such as decisions, or tasks to be created, or tasks completed from previous meetings
After the meeting
Organize the notes
Summarize what you believe the key points of the meeting were. This is now your executive summary. Place this on top of the minutes
List any action items that were completed since the last meeting (if the meeting is a series) or new action items created and who’s responsible for them
Get clarification from attendees if needed
Share the minutes
File > Send > Send as Page
Example Minutes (from the real world)
