HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIVE MEETING MINUTES
DEFINITIONS
Minutes are the official record of an organization.
It is crucial that they are accurate since they are the legal record of the
proceedings and actions of the organization.
Why meeting minutes are important
• Decisions made (motions, votes, etc…)
• Next steps planned
• Identification and tracking of action items
• When a meeting’s outcomes impact other collaborative activities or projects
within the organization
• Minutes can serve to notify (or remind) individuals of tasks assigned to them
and/or timelines
What’s involved with meeting minutes?
There are essentially five steps involved with meeting minutes:
• Pre-Planning
• Record taking - at the meeting
• Minutes writing or transcribing
• Distributing or sharing of meeting minutes
• Filing or storage of minutes for future reference
1. Pre-planning
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• A well-planned meeting helps ensure effective meeting minutes.
• If the Chair and the Secretary or minutes-taker work together to ensure the
agenda and meeting are well thought out, it makes minute taking much easier.
• Depending on the meeting structure and the tools you use, the minutes-taker
could work with the Chair to create a document format that works as an agenda
and minutes outline as well.
Agenda Checklist
• Name of the meeting
• Date and Time
• Exact location of the meeting
• A list of expected attendees
• Expected meeting duration
• Clearly stated objectives of the meeting
• An agenda item to approve the minutes of the previous meeting
• An agenda item to handle matters arising from the previous meeting’s minutes
(actions that haven’t been completed for example)
• An agenda item at the end to handle AOB – Any Other Business
• Each agenda item should be numbered
• Each agenda item should have a time allotted to it
• Where you have a speaker, their name should be next to the agenda item so
they know they are running that item of the agenda.
• An agenda should be circulated in advance (ideally the day before)
• As chair (or secretary) you should bring enough printed copies of the agenda to
the meeting and print-outs of the last meeting’s minutes for everyone.
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• The whole agenda should be simple and clear for all participants to understand,
without extensive prior knowledge.
2. Record taking - what should be included?
• Before you start taking notes, it’s important to understand the type of
information you need to record at the meeting.
• Your organization may have required content and a specific format that you’ll
need to follow, but generally, meeting minutes usually include the following:
-Date, time and place of the meeting
-Name of the presiding officer and secretary
-Names of the meeting participants and those unable to attend
-Acceptance or corrections/amendments to previous meeting minutes
3. The Minutes Writing Process
• Once the meeting is over, it’s time to pull together your notes and write the
minutes.
- Write the minutes as soon after the meeting as possible while everything is
fresh in your mind.
• Review your outline and if necessary, add additional notes or clarify points
raised.
• Check to ensure all decisions, actions and motions are clearly noted. Check for
sufficient detail:
- include a short statement of each action taken by the Board and a brief
explanation of the rationale for the decision – when there is extensive
deliberation before passing a motion, summarize the major arguments
– Edit to ensure conciseness and clarity, so the minutes are easy to read.
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• Decisions made about each agenda item, for example:
– Actions taken or agreed to be taken
– Next steps
– Voting outcomes – e.g., (if necessary, details regarding who made motions;
who seconded and approved or via show of hands, etc.)
– Motions taken or rejected
– Items to be held over
– New business
– Next meeting date and time
• Be objective.
– Write in the same tense throughout
– Avoid using people’s names except for motions or seconds. This is a business
document, not about who said what.
– Avoid inflammatory or personal observations. The fewer adjectives or
adverbs you use, the better.
– If you need to refer to other documents, attach them in an appendix or
indicate where they may be found. Don’t rewrite their intent or try to summarize
them.
What NOT TO INCLUDE
• The opinion or interpretation of the secretary
• Judgmental phrases e.g. “heated debate” “valuable comment”
• Discussion: Minutes are a record of what was done at the meeting, not what
was said at the meeting
• Motions that were withdrawn
4. Distributing or Sharing Meeting Minutes
• As the official “minutes-taker” or Secretary, your role may include dissemination
of the minutes.
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• However, before you share these, be sure that the Chair has reviewed and
either revised and/or approved the minutes for circulation.
Keep a record
You don’t need to note every word. Just keep a record as follows:
• Names of everyone who was there (and apologies from those who weren’t)
• Key decisions made
• Actions agreed
• Next steps
5. Filing/Storage of Meeting Minutes
• Most committees and Boards review and either approve or amend the minutes
at the beginning of the subsequent meeting.
• Once you’ve made any required revisions, the minutes will then need to be
stored for future reference.
• Some organizations may store these online (e.g., in Google docs or SkyDrive)
and also back these up on an external hard drive.
• You may also need to print and store hard copies as well or provide these to a
staff member or Chair for filing.
• ATTACHMENTS
• APPROVAL
• SIGNATURE
• MINUTES BOOK
• COPIES
Standard Meeting Minute Template
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• Please note that the format, style and content requirements for meeting
minutes varies depending on the organization and the type of Committee or
Board.
• Meeting minutes normally include these elements as standard:
– • Time, date and venue.
– • Attendees and apologies from absentees.
• • Key outcomes from the meeting - decisions made, actions agreed and
open issues.
Example of Minutes Format
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