Useful meeting notes are not a transcript. Nobody reads a transcript. Good notes record what was decided and who will do what, by when, and they arrive the same day.
Capture four things
- Decisions: what was agreed.
- Actions: what will be done, by whom and by when.
- Open questions: what still needs an answer, and who will find it.
- Key context: only the reasoning someone will need later.
If a sentence does not fit one of these, leave it out.
A template
Meeting: Weekly sales review Date: 14 October 2026
Present: Ana, Karim, Lea
Decisions
- We will offer the starter package to restaurants only, from November.
- The price stays at 1,200 dollars.
Actions
- Karim: update the website page for the starter package, by 20 October.
- Lea: email the three restaurants from last week's event, by Friday.
- Ana: confirm the November start dates with the designer, by Thursday.
Open questions
- Do we need a separate contract for restaurants? Ana to check with the lawyer.
Next meeting: 21 October
Write actions that get done
An action needs three things: a verb, an owner and a date.
Website to be updated.
Karim: update the starter package page on the website, by 20 October.
The first sounds like a plan. Only the second gets done.
Before, during and after
- Before: agree who takes notes, and share the agenda. There is help with that in how to set a team meeting agenda.
- During: write decisions and actions as they happen. At the end, read them back aloud in one minute, so everyone agrees.
- After: send the notes the same day, to everyone who was there and anyone with an action.
Using AI for notes
AI tools can record, transcribe and summarise meetings, which saves real time. Two cautions:
- Ask first. Tell everyone before recording, and follow the rules where you work.
- Check the summary. AI can miss a decision, invent an action or assign it to the wrong person. Read it before you send it.
If your team uses AI tools often, agree on some rules together. There is a template in an AI policy for your company.
Keep notes where people can find them
Notes in someone's inbox are lost after a month. Keep them in one shared place, with the same format and naming. Decisions in particular are worth keeping, because the same questions come back. A record of what you decided and why is part of a second brain for your business.