How to Take Minutes in a Meeting

Holding an effective meeting consists of three parts - preparation, meeting space and taking minutes. Meetings without minutes are only half-remembered, and so are only half effective. But taking minutes when you’ve never done it before can seem like a daunting task. Let’s look at how to take meeting minutes and what they’re for.

What are meeting minutes?

Meeting minutes are a record of a meeting’s proceedings: who was present, what was said and by whom, what was agreed or left open, and any other business that was raised. A designated person, ideally someone not actively contributing to the meeting, will take notes about what is said or demonstrated; after the meeting they will write the notes in readable form to share with attendees or other interested parties.

Meeting minutes are not like court stenographers’ notes or governmental records of debates,  hearings or committees. That is, they are not supposed to be word-for-word accounts of what was said at the meeting. They are meant to be a substantive summary of the proceedings, debates and conclusions.

The main reason to take meeting minutes is that it serves as an aide-mémoire for those present, or a summary for those who were not. It can be difficult to remember everything that was said or decided in a long meeting. The minutes make sure everyone has access to the main points in short form.

A secondary reason is that it is a record of what was said or agreed in case there’s a legal dispute or disagreement at a later date. That’s why it’s important for attendees to read through the minutes as soon as they get them while they are fresh in the mind, so any objections can be noted and any errors can be corrected. It is worth noting that in some situations such as board meetings or legal disputes, the minutes are a binding record of events, and could end up being used in court.

How to write meeting minutes

How you write meeting minutes will depend on how comfortable you are with a particular style of recording. Some ways of taking notes include:

• Writing shorthand notes (or notes only you understand)
• Writing longhand notes
• Entering notes on a computer, tablet or phone
• Recording with an audio device to replay later
• Using a stenography machine

Shorthand notes and steno machine notes require a lot of training, and are really only applicable to professionally trained secretaries. In most everyday meetings, the notes will be taken by an attendee who isn’t a main contributor, or someone from the office asked to take the notes. More formal meetings will have a dedicated secretary present to record events.

Always start the notes by recording the date and time, the location, the names of attendees, and references (or links) to any supplementary notes such as agendas, diagrams, images, slideshows or recordings where possible. You might be able to fill much of this in before the meeting, and simply revise anything that has changed when the meeting commences (for example absences or changes in agenda).

When writing or typing notes, the trick is to listen out for the main points that speakers or presenters are making and write them down as quickly and simply as possible. Don’t get bogged down with meandering sentences or pointless adjectives and adverbs. Just get the main point of what is being said, and you can embellish it later if necessary. If you try to take too much detail down, you end up being a sentence or two behind the speaker, and your brain will be trying to record what was said 20 seconds ago while listening to what is being said now – you’re guaranteed to miss out details.

After the meeting

Once the meeting is wrapped up, and while the memory is fresh in your mind, go somewhere quiet and transcribe your notes into a format that everyone will be able to understand, i.e. long form, grammatical sentences. As we mentioned earlier, they don’t have to be verbatim accounts of what was said, unless it’s important that the exact wording is used (for example if someone is presenting an advertising slogan or strapline, or if a specific legal definition is being recounted). In the context of the meeting, this should have been clear when you were taking notes, but if you have failed to note such phrases word for word, it’s worth contacting the relevant person to make sure you have got it right.

Once the document has been written out, distribute it to all relevant stakeholders, including those present at the meeting. Ask for confirmation of receipt so that attendees cannot claim ignorance of a fact later on.

How to write minutes of a meeting: example

All meeting minutes should start with the details listed above: attendees and absences, location, date etc. There should also be a title page that covers the main purpose or theme of the meeting for easy reference later on:

Meeting notes

After this, you’ll be in the main body of the meeting. That usually takes one of three formats:

• A line-by-line account of each speaker’s points, rather like a play script, with the name on the left or as a subheading, followed by a summary of what they said in the context of the meeting. 
• A summary of what each contributor said throughout the whole meeting, regardless of when they said it or what it was in response to.
• A general recap of the main points of the meeting – any substantive points raised and what was agreed.

There could also be a mix of the above formats, if it would make sense to include it, for example, a snippet of crucial dialogue inside a general synopsis.

The easiest way to lay your notes out is to use a template. Your company might already have a standard meeting notes template, but you can also use those included with Microsoft Office or Google Docs. There are hundreds of other templates online if you search for them.

Location is everything

If you’re planning a meeting but your team is spread all over the country, why not hire a meeting room in a central location? It’s inexpensive and you’ll have all the modern tech you need, plus a receptionist and kitchen. And when you book a Meetingo room, you can choose one in a prestigious location in a bustling city – great for transport but also perfect if you’re entertaining clients or rewarding your own team with a meal or a night out afterwards. Read the rest of our blog for more inspiration.