PeopleMuster

Meeting minutes template, with an example of minutes

Good meeting minutes record decisions and actions, not conversation. A reader who missed the meeting should learn in one minute what was agreed, who owns each next step and when it's due. The template below has a blank version and a filled-in example of minutes from a project review.

Use it for any meeting where something gets decided: a project review, a client call, a team meeting or a board discussion. Send the minutes within one working day, while people still remember what they agreed. For a quick stand-up with no decisions, a line in the team channel is enough.

MEETING MINUTES (BLANK)

Meeting: [MEETING NAME]
Date: [MEETING DATE]    Time: [START TIME] to [END TIME]
Location or link: [LOCATION OR CALL LINK]
Chair: [CHAIR NAME]    Minutes by: [MINUTE TAKER]

Attendees: [ATTENDEE NAMES]
Apologies: [ABSENT NAMES]

1. [AGENDA ITEM]
   Summary: [TWO-LINE SUMMARY]
   Decision: [DECISION MADE]

2. [AGENDA ITEM]
   Summary: [TWO-LINE SUMMARY]
   Decision: [DECISION MADE]

3. [AGENDA ITEM]
   Summary: [TWO-LINE SUMMARY]
   Decision: [DECISION MADE]

Action items
# | Action | Owner | Due date | Status
1 | [ACTION] | [OWNER] | [DUE DATE] | Open
2 | [ACTION] | [OWNER] | [DUE DATE] | Open
3 | [ACTION] | [OWNER] | [DUE DATE] | Open

Carried over from last meeting: [OPEN ACTIONS FROM LAST TIME]
Next meeting: [NEXT MEETING DATE AND TIME]


EXAMPLE OF MINUTES OF A MEETING (FILLED IN)

Meeting: Weekly project review, website rebuild
Date: Tuesday    Time: 10:00 to 10:30
Location or link: Video call
Chair: Project manager    Minutes by: Delivery coordinator

Attendees: Project manager, tech lead, designer, client contact
Apologies: QA engineer

1. Design sign-off for the pricing page
   Summary: The client asked for the plan table to sit above the FAQ. The designer showed both layouts.
   Decision: The table moves above the FAQ. No other design changes this sprint.

2. Launch date
   Summary: Two pages still wait on client copy. The tech lead needs three working days after copy arrives.
   Decision: Launch holds if copy arrives by Friday. Otherwise it moves one week.

3. Extra hours on the contact form
   Summary: The form took 6 hours more than planned because of the spam filter.
   Decision: Log the hours as non-billable. The project manager tells the client in the weekly update.

Action items
# | Action | Owner | Due date | Status
1 | Send final copy for the two remaining pages | Client contact | Friday | Open
2 | Move the plan table above the FAQ | Designer | Thursday | Open
3 | Confirm or move the launch date in the weekly update | Project manager | Monday | Open

Carried over from last meeting: None
Next meeting: Next Tuesday, 10:00

What to put in each blank

[DECISION MADE]
Write the decision as one sentence someone could act on. If nothing was decided, write 'No decision' and add an action to get one.
[TWO-LINE SUMMARY]
Give the point that led to the decision, in two lines at most. Leave out who said what.
[OWNER]
Name one person per action. An action owned by 'the team' is an action nobody owns.
[DUE DATE]
Give a real day. 'Next week' slips; 'Thursday' gets done or gets a reason.
[OPEN ACTIONS FROM LAST TIME]
List any action from the previous minutes that is still open. Review these first at the next meeting.

Before you send it

  • Write the decisions and the action table during the meeting and tidy the summaries after. Minutes typed up from memory the next day lose the exact wording people agreed to.
  • Read the action table aloud in the last two minutes. Owners who hear their name and date out loud rarely dispute them later.
  • Keep the minutes where the project lives, not in someone's inbox. When a question about a decision comes up in three months, you'll want to find them in seconds.
  • For formal minutes, such as a board meeting, add who proposed and who approved each motion. Your governing documents set what those minutes must record.

With Fireflies connected, PeopleMuster imports each meeting's transcript and action items and files them against the right project

Questions people ask about this letter

What should be included in the minutes of a meeting?

Include the meeting name, date, attendees and apologies, a short summary and decision for each agenda item, and an action table with an owner and due date. The example above has all of these for a 30-minute project review.

How long should meeting minutes be?

Keep them to one page for a meeting under an hour. Two lines of summary per agenda item is enough; the decisions and actions matter more than the discussion.

Who should take the minutes of a meeting?

Pick someone other than the chair, so the person running the meeting can focus on it. Rotate the job in a regular team meeting, and name the minute taker at the top.

How soon should meeting minutes be sent out?

Send them within one working day. After that, people remember the discussion differently and the actions start late.

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