Whether you contribute to intense marketing meetings or you’re tasked with recording official board or committee meetings, taking effective meeting notes or minutes can be elevated to an art form, changing the dynamic and success factor of any organization.
Ever left a long meeting scratching your head wondering “What just happened?” That’s probably because a) the meeting leader botched it or b) you took little-to-zero notes.
You can’t control “a)” but you can darn sure improve your note-taking skills. Whether the meeting notes are for you alone or to be shared with your team, the responsibility rests on you to stay informed and engaged in the meeting.
Intentional, action-facing note taking can launch your team’s success factor to new levels of effectiveness. Your team will be “reading off the same page” or “singing from the same hymnal” (choose your metaphor).
Before you fill that coffee mug up, check the conferencing tech and sit in an ergonomically correct chair, take time to enter the correct “meeting headspace.” As you set up your note-taking tool (more on that later), jot down how you plan to take notes. Answer the following questions:
Now for a word about meeting tactics.
The meeting is over; you’re back at your desk. You have a collection of facts, quotes, tasks, graphics – in short, the raw materials for awesome notes.
After you’ve crafted and edited your notes, it’s time to send your masterpiece to the team.
Be timely in distributing the notes. Don’t obsess over every tiny detail. Make sure you have updated contact data for every attendee.
Send the notes the optimal way for your team. Often, this means e-mail but you may need to format your notes to work with project management apps such as Jira, Slack, Asana or Microsoft Teams.
Before hitting send, ask a fellow meeting attendee whose judgment you trust to review the notes. That may head off future criticism. Well, it probably won’t – at best it will minimize it – because…
Your well-crafted, awesome notes will be criticized. Be prepared. “That’s not how it went down!” “My team never agreed to that plan of action.” Don’t worry: You have a new strategy for dealing with the inevitable finger-pointing or disagreements about the outcome of the meeting in question. No more arguing, as you can always share a snippet of the synced Otter meeting notes to settle any disagreements.
Your transformation into a master note taker may well depend on your comfort level with note-taking apps. It’s worth the effort to research, learn and employ the latest and greatest in meeting notes software.
Make sure you use an app that’s well known, user-friendly and can be easily integrated into most IT devices and operating systems. Meeting note apps should, at a minimum, offer:
Otter for Teams offers a variety of collaborative functions that releases a new level of note-taking super-powers.
[Team Meeting]
[Date] / [Time] / [Location]
Attendees
[x]
Agenda
Last Meeting Follow-up
New Business
Notes
Action Items
Next Meeting Agenda
[Add your text here.]
- Download the Google Docs version here
[Organization/Committee Name]
Meeting Minutes
[Date]
Opening
The regular meeting of the [Organization/Committee Name] was called to order at [time] on [date] in [location] by [Facilitator Name].
Present
[Attendee names]
Approval of Agenda
The agenda was [unanimously approved as distributed.]
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting were [unanimously approved as distributed.]
Open Issues
[Summarize the discussion for each existing issue, state the outcome, and assign any action item.]
New Business
[Summarize the discussion for new issues, state the next steps, and assign any action item.]
Agenda for Next Meeting
[List the items to be discussed at the next meeting.]
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at [time] by [Facilitator Name]. The next general meeting will be at [time] on [date], in [location].
Minutes submitted by:
Name:
Approved by:
Name
- Download the Google Docs version here
Call to order
A meeting of [Organization or Team name] was held at [Location] on [Date]. Attendees included [list attendee names]. Members not in attendance included [list names].
Approval of minutes
[Replace any placeholder text with your own. For best results, don’t include space to the left or right of the characters, including the brackets, in your selection.]
Reports
[Add your text here.]
Unfinished business
[Add your text here.]
Motion
[Add your text here.]
New Business
[Add your text here.]
Announcements
[Add your text here.]
Adjournment
[Add your text here.]Secretary
Date of approval
- Download the Google Docs version here
[Company]/[Department Name]
Meeting Minutes
[Date]
I. Call to order
Facilitator Name called to order the regular meeting of the Organization/Committee Name at the time on date at location.
II. Roll call
Secretary Name conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: attendee names
III. Approval of minutes from the last meeting
Secretary Name read the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were approved as read.
IIII. Open issues
a) Open issue/summary of the discussion
b) Open issue/summary of the discussion
c) Open issue/summary of the discussion
V. New business
a) New business/summary of the discussion
b) New business/summary of the discussion
c) New business/summary of the discussion
VI. Adjournment
Facilitator Name adjourned the meeting at the time.
Minutes submitted by: Name
Minutes approved by: Name