You can also use initials to indicate who will be in charge of the next steps. If multiple people in the meeting have input on a matter, it can help to use attendees’ initials to indicate who contributed what. Simplify and clarify what happened during the meeting. You also might have difficulty keeping up if you try to write the entire conversation word-for-word. It’s not necessary to record everything that was said during the meeting notes. You should document as much information as possible, but don’t write everything verbatim. When you’re writing meeting notes, summarize. Making the notes viewable on a projector or sharing your screen or document during meetings allows your teammates to contribute to them. This can sometimes feel chaotic and make it difficult to keep track of everything. Make your notes viewable during the meeting Before recording, though, be sure to let your attendees know they are being recorded. Later, you can use an artificial intelligence transcription service or just listen back to the recording as a refresher when needed. You can do this with any smartphone, audio recording device, or camera. If you’re experiencing this, consider recording the meeting. When you start in your secretary role, you might have trouble keeping up with note-taking. Some organizations even put their agenda and expected attendees on the meeting notes for efficiency.

This is useful later when other people in the organization need to reference them. That way, they’re all laid out the same way, and you won’t have to waste time adding headings and bullet points. It helps to use a template every time you take meeting minutes. It helps to write out your meeting minutes as soon as the meeting concludes so you don’t miss anything. Once the meeting has adjourned, use your notes to write and edit your minutes, and then share them.

Corrections or amendments to previous meeting minutes.

A section to define attendees who are guests, nonvoters, or speakers.

Next steps, like research and follow-ups.

Project status updates and voting results.

Here are some custom elements you can include in your meeting minutes: Beyond the essentials, your meeting notes can include and be structured in whatever way best fits your organization’s needs. Most organizations will add at least one or two other elements in their meeting notes. Next meeting date and place What else should meeting minutes include? These are the essential items to include in your meeting minutes: Read on to find out what to include in your meeting minutes. But many organizations will also benefit from having other, optional items like supplementary documents and action items. Regardless, you should always include the basics, like date, time, and participants. The style and content of meeting minutes will vary depending on the organization and how it’s structured.

However, many other companies also use meeting minutes to maintain an official record. Nonprofits, government entities, schools, public companies, and trade unions are usually required to record official meeting minutes. The secretary most often takes meeting minutes. More importantly, if an organization enters into any sort of legal situation, minutes serve as an official record proving due diligence, ethics, and bylaw compliance. Minutes also offer accountability to action items that were discussed during the meeting. Minutes are usually structured and formal so that they can be shared after the meeting and serve as historical documents in the future.įor those who could not attend the meeting, minutes bring them up to speed. Meeting minutes are the written record of a meeting or hearing. Write with Grammarly What are meeting minutes?