A meeting minutes form is a document that is used to take notes related to a professional or corporate meeting. Depending on the sort of business, keeping minutes may be a legal requirement. Keeping accurate minutes are important since they act as a record of what happened during a meeting. The meeting minutes are often read back during the next meeting as well. Meetings may also be kept for public meetings, such as city council meetings.
Meeting minutes are the notes and documentation taken during a professional or corporate meeting. These minutes must be recorded by a company secretary in order to have a document on file with the corporation. This will ensure the company has an accurate record of past meetings. Meeting minute documents should be kept regardless of whether the meetings are private or public.
The company secretary will need to include information about the date and time of the meeting, the location, the attendees, and the nature of the meeting. For private meetings, less information can be included. For public meetings, more detailed information should be included, such as topics discussed, dialogue, and outcome.
A company should keep all of their meeting minutes documented for as long as the business is in operation. This will be especially necessary of companies who have government funding or a non-profit status.
Meeting minutes are commonly used to document the most important information from a business meeting. The meeting notes will commonly include details regarding:
Meeting agenda
Decisions made
Next steps to be taken
Tracking action items
Minutes will be used as a reference point:
When a meeting’s decisions impact other activities within the organization
To remind individuals of the tasks that have been assigned to them
To record corporate minutes, you need to capture the most important details of the meeting. You may choose to work with a free meeting agenda template that you find online or create your own. A basic meeting template should include:
Name of the Company/Organization
Name of the body that met (ex: Board of Directors)
How often the meeting occurs (ex: annual board meeting, committee meeting, project meeting, team meeting)
Meeting time and date
What time meeting actually began
What time meeting ended
Location of meeting
Meeting attendees
Absent members
Chair of meeting
Whether the agenda was approved
Whether the minutes were approved from the previous meeting
Agenda items
New business items discussed
Date and time of next meeting
Location of next meeting
Agenda items for next meeting
Name of persons who will submit and approve meeting minutes
Effective meeting minutes will include just the right amount of detail. Detailed meeting notes should let everyone who reads them know the important points that were discussed and the results of any important decisions. However, the best meeting minutes will also be brief and to the point. You do not have to write down everything that was said, verbatim.
These are the steps that should be followed to write effective meeting minutes:
Pre-Planning: A meeting that is well planned will help guarantee that the meeting minutes are effective; if the agenda and meeting are designed properly, minute-taking will be much easier. The meeting agenda should be used as a guide/outline for taking notes, creating the meeting minutes format, and preparing the meeting minutes. In addition, the minutes-taker should ask the chair of the committee or board in question what kind of detail they expect in the meeting minutes.
Record Taking (at the meeting): The note-taker should create an outline based on the meeting agenda and ask for clarification of any items discussed/actions taken, if necessary; meeting minutes must be accurate. Effective meeting minutes generally include the following sections:
Meeting Date and Time
Meeting Participants/Those Unable to Attend (Names)
Acceptance or Corrections/Amendments to Previous/Last Meeting Minutes
New Business/Agenda Items Discussed
Decisions Made by Meeting Participants about Each Agenda Item, including actions taken or agreed to be taken, next steps, voting outcomes (who made motions, who seconded/approved or via show of hands), motions taken or rejected, and items to be held over)
Follow-ups (Action Items) and Next Steps
Next Meeting Date and Time
Minutes Writing Process: Meeting minutes should be written directly after the meeting, if possible, after a review of the outline; they should include sufficient detail and be edited to ensure correct grammar and clarity. Meeting minutes should be objective/fact-based and avoid the personal observations of the writer.
Distribution of Meeting Minutes: Before meeting minutes are shared, they must be reviewed and revised or approved by the chair as an official record of the meeting. The method of sharing or distribution of meeting minutes depends on the tools used by the organization in question; an online sharing process is the most efficient way to distribute meeting minutes.
Saving of Meeting Minutes for Reference: Committees and boards generally review and either approve or amend meeting minutes at the start of the next meeting. After that, the meeting minutes will need to be stored -- online and/or as a hard copy -- for future reference.
Meeting minutes constitute a written record of everything that occurred during a meeting -- an official record of what happened, including what was agreed upon. Meeting minutes are a source of information for meeting participants, team members who were not present at the meeting, and other stakeholders. Meeting minutes help avoid misunderstandings, notify people of assigned tasks, and create clarity regarding timelines, next steps, and responsibilities.
Formal meeting minutes document important, official decisions that generally require approval; they employ formal language and are written to be distributed to all of the meeting participants after the meeting. Formal meeting minutes are used by nonprofits, governmental bodies, schools, trade unions, and public companies; those organizations refer to/conform their meeting minutes to Robert’s Rules of Order.
Although the format/style and content requirements for board meeting minutes vary with the particular organization/type of board, meeting minutes for board meetings generally include the following items:
Meeting Date and Time/Call to Order
Roll Call/Meeting Participants/Those Unable to Attend (Names)
Acceptance or Corrections/Amendments to Previous/Last Meeting Minutes
New Business/Agenda Items Discussed
Decisions Made by Meeting Participants about Each Agenda Item (including actions taken or agreed to be taken, next steps, voting outcomes (who made motions, who seconded/approved or via show of hands), motions taken or rejected, and items to be held over)
Follow-ups (Action Items) and Next Steps
Next Meeting Date and Time
Adjournment
Meeting minutes for a team meeting are an informal record of a meeting usually called to confer about a team project. Generally, no one must approve the minutes for this type of meeting; team meeting minutes' only purpose is to record the key points discussed and the next steps to be undertaken.
The note-taker for a team meeting should include the following sections in the tram meeting minutes:
Date and Time of the Meeting
Names of the Attendees/Participants: This section should list he names of all the attendees, as well as the names of those who were unable to attend.
Objective of the Meeting: This section should state the purpose of the meeting in detail -- why the meeting was called and what it is supposed to accomplish.
Agenda Items/Topics Covered: This section should list all the key points discussed at the meeting, including including any outcomes and/or decisions that were made.
Action Items: This section should list each new action item -- actions that need to be undertaken with regard to decisions made, recommendations, and issues or solutions that were identified, the date the action item is due, and the name of the person to whom the action item was assigned.
Next Meeting Date, Time, and Place
Documents to be Included with the Team Meeting Minutes: This section should include the documents that need to be sent out/distributed with the team meeting minutes, including an action log, KPIs, and/or any revisions to the project in question.
Team meeting minutes should be distributed to team members as quickly as possible. Still, the note-taker should review their minute-taking carefully, to be sure the team meeting minutes have been written accurately and well.
Meeting notes are not the same as meeting minutes; the latter are more formal, generally require approval, and constructed with the intent of being distributed/shared with the all the meeting participants after the meeting has ended. Meeting notes are merely informal notes -- a speedy reference to the significant items covered in a meeting (e.g., objectives, barriers, deadlines, ideas). Note-taking for meeting notes involves recording key points that will be important to remember at a later date. Meeting notes should be kept simple, and can be written in any style, but should still include all the important details of a meeting.
Writing meeting notes allows the note-taker to record the information from a meeting in their own words, using any method that helps them understand and retain the information, ensures the note-taker will listen to and comprehend the meeting discussions, and creates a reference regarding important deadlines, decisions, and topics discussed.
Meeting notes should include the following items:
Date of Meeting and Attendees (Names)
Meeting Agenda/Talking Points: key points only - a meeting agenda can be used as a general outline for meeting notes)
Important Discussions/Decisions Made: all the decisions, recommendations, and issues identified -- note these details in real-time, not after the meeting
Questions Asked/Answers Given: during the meeting
Talking Points for Future Meetings: ideas, questions, follow-ups
Meeting Action Items: note the assignment, the context of the assignment, to whom it was assigned, and the due date
Meeting Recap: a short, executive summary, including next steps and/or action items
