The test of meeting notes is simple: a person who missed the meeting reads them and knows what was decided and what they need to do. Notes that narrate who said what fail that test, however accurate they are.
Three sections, in this order
- Decisions — what was agreed, stated as a sentence that could stand alone. “Launch moves to 3 December.”
- Actions — one line each: the task, one named owner, one due date.
- Open questions — what was raised but not decided, and who will bring an answer to which meeting.
Discussed the launch. Some concerns about QA. Team to look into it and revert.
Decision: launch moves from 26 Nov to 3 Dec. Action: Meera to confirm QA capacity for 27 Nov–2 Dec — due Mon 24 Nov. Open: whether the client demo also moves (Arjun to ask the client by Tue).
One owner per action, always
“Team to check” means nobody checks. If a task genuinely needs several people, name the one person responsible for making sure it happens and reporting back. Others can be listed as contributors.
Send them within the hour
Notes sent the same day can still be corrected while memories are fresh. Ask explicitly: “If any decision or owner is recorded wrongly, reply by end of day.” Silence after that is a reasonable basis to proceed — and a wrong decision gets caught before work is done on it.
If something was discussed but not decided, write it as an open question. Turning a discussion into a decision in the minutes is one of the fastest ways to lose a team’s trust in them.
Examples in this guide are fictional and written for teaching — not client material or measured results.
