How to Write Minutes of Meeting

Meetings are an essential part of every organizational operation. Whether in a large corporate or a small start-up, meetings are a common feature. These meetings help in assessing the current market trend, financial position, risks associated, and other topics related to the various activities of the business organization. Recording and documenting these meetings are equally essential. Minutes of Meeting abbreviated as MoM is a written report that provides the details of a meeting.

Meeting minutes are very useful and can be used as a reference tool regarding the tasks that need to be done. The MoM document is usually written by one of the attendees of the meeting and can be useful for absentee members as well. Preparing and writing the minutes of meeting can be achieved by following some simple guidelines. In this article, we will discuss these guidelines to write clear and concise minutes of meeting documents.

Minutes of Meeting

Minutes of meeting is a written document often distributed among the attendees of the meeting on the important agenda discussed in the meeting. It is essentially a summary of the meeting written in a clear and concise manner. All the details are mentioned in the meeting minutes in the form of short notes. They must include discussions that are made regarding the assigned tasks, delegated professionals associated with the task, votes taken, actions approved, and so on.

However, they must be easily understood by every member of the meeting. Also, it should be written in such a manner that any absent member of the meeting will be able to understand the objective of the meeting properly. Thus, it is essential that minutes of meeting must be written in real-time while keeping them brief.

Components of Meeting Minutes

While writing minutes of meeting it is vital that the important details of the meetings are mentioned accurately. This will be highly useful for future reference and for any absent member of the meeting to know about the tasks at hand. Here are some essential components of meeting minutes that must be a part of every minutes of meeting document:

• Title of the meeting or the group meeting – Every meeting minutes document must have a title for example the name of the group who are meeting or the members of the board of directors of the company.

• Basics of the meeting like date, time, location of the meeting – These are basic details like date, time, and the location where the meeting is taking place.

• Names of the attendees of the meeting including absent members – It must include all the members who are supposed to be present for the meeting including those who were absent for some reason. Also, the minutes meeting taker must be mentioned here.

• Meeting agenda – This is an important part of the minutes meeting document as it includes the reason for the meeting to happen. Here the main objective of the meeting is mentioned.

• Discussion regarding each item on the meeting agenda – After the main objective is known, other agenda items of the meetings can be noted here. These may include tasks to be completed, tasks assigned, delegated professionals for each task, votes taken, actions approved, etc.

• Additional documents included in the meeting – Any additional documents or reports shown and discussed in the meetings must be included in the minutes of meeting.

• Date and time of next meeting – Lastly, the next meeting date and time of the meeting must be mentioned in the meeting minutes document.

How to Write Minutes of Meeting?

Now that we are aware of the essential components of minutes of meeting, here are the guidelines to write a clear and concise meeting minutes document:

• Prepare for the meeting by creating minutes of meeting template – Before attending the meeting you can create a minutes of meeting document template that will be easier to fill out the information in.

• Take notes in real-time – Fill in the information in the meeting minutes document in real-time while the meeting is taking place.

• Be clear and concise – As the minutes taker, make sure that your written notes are understood by every member of the meeting. Even the absent members will be able to understand the objective of the meeting through your notes.

• Use short sentences and abbreviations – Since you will be taking notes in real-time use short sentences and abbreviations for names or tasks wherever it is possible.

• Note the facts – Minutes of Meeting are factual so ensure that all facts about the meeting are mentioned including when the meeting began and when it was adjourned, who is addressing the meeting on what agenda, which member joined the meeting later, which member left the meeting early, and so on.

Importance of Minutes of Meeting

Minutes of meeting is very useful in providing details about the operations of the organization and the direction the organization wants to take to achieve its objectives. It helps in keeping track of the progress the organization has made and discussing the risk mitigation strategies to sustain the business. These can be recorded manually or digitally by the minutes taker. After the meeting, the minutes taker can make edits to the document and send it to their superior(like professional project managers or team leads) for the final edit. When the final check is complete, the minutes of the meeting can be distributed among the attendees and the absentees of the meeting to be used as reference or for knowing the future agendas of the organization. Apart from being an excellent progress report for the business, minutes of meeting are useful for corporates and companies for litigation purposes.