Meeting minutes template and how to take minutes
Fill in the builder and copy clean minutes in two minutes. Then the format, a filled-in example and how to take minutes well.
Meeting minutes are a short record of what a meeting decided and who will do what by when, not a transcript of what was said. The standard format lists the meeting name, date and time, who attended, a short summary and the decision for each agenda item, action items with an owner and a due date, and the next meeting date. Send them within one working day.
Meeting minutes builder
Type as the meeting runs or straight after it. Anything you leave blank copies as a [placeholder], so it doubles as a blank template.
Weekly team, project and staff meetings.
[Meeting name] minutes Date: [weekday, month day, year] Time: [start to end] Place: [room or call link] Run by: [name] Minutes by: [name] Present: [names] Absent: [names, or none] Discussion 1. [agenda item]: [two lines on what was discussed] Decisions 1. [what was agreed, in the words agreed] Action items - [task]: [owner], due [date] Next meeting: [date and time]
The minutes of meeting format
Seven parts, in this order. Copy the template below into a doc or email if you'd rather type there.
- The basics: meeting name, date, start and end time, and the room or call link.
- Who was there: people present and people absent; for a board, add each person's role.
- Who ran it and who wrote it: the chair or facilitator and the note-taker.
- Each agenda item: a summary of two lines at most, in the agenda's order.
- Each decision: worded the way the group agreed it, so nobody can remember it differently.
- Action items: the task, one owner and a due date, together in one list.
- Next meeting: the date and time, plus, for formal meetings, when this one ended.
[Meeting name] minutes Date: [weekday, month day, year] Time: [start] to [end] Place: [room or call link] Run by: [name] Minutes by: [name] Present: [names] Absent: [names] 1. [Agenda item] Summary: [two lines on what was discussed] Decision: [what was agreed, in the words agreed] 2. [Agenda item] Summary: Decision: Action items - [Task]: [owner], due [date] - [Task]: [owner], due [date] Not discussed (moved to next time) - [Item] Next meeting: [date, time]
The minutes follow the agenda item by item, so a good agenda makes them easy. Our team meeting agenda builder writes one with times for each item.
How to take minutes
Most of the work happens before and after the meeting. During it, your only job is to catch outcomes.
Before the meeting
- Paste the agenda in as headings. Your notes then land under the item they belong to, and the minutes are half built.
- Reread the last minutes. Note every open action so you can ask for an update on each one.
- Agree a signal with the chair. You need to be able to say "what exactly did we decide?" without it feeling like an interruption.
- Don't take minutes in a meeting you run. You can't chair and write at once; ask someone else to take them.
During the meeting
- Write outcomes, not dialogue. "Agreed to move launch to March" beats a paragraph on who said what.
- Listen for commitment phrases. "I'll take that", "can you", "by Friday" and "let's go with" each mean a line in your minutes.
- Read each decision back. Before the group moves on, say it out loud in one sentence and fix it on the spot.
- Park side topics at the bottom. A "not discussed" list keeps them without derailing the notes.
- Use initials and shorthand. Speed matters more than neat notes while the meeting is running.
After the meeting
- Write the clean copy the same day. By tomorrow your shorthand is a puzzle.
- Have the chair check decisions. For formal or sensitive meetings, get the wording approved before anyone else reads it.
- Send to the absent people too. They need the minutes more than anyone who was in the room.
- File them in one place. Name files by date first, like "2026-11-05 Ops weekly", so they sort in order.
Taking minutes on a video call? Ask people to say decisions out loud rather than type them in the chat, and see our virtual meeting etiquette guide for the rest.
What to leave out of meeting minutes
Short minutes get read. Cut anything that doesn't change what happens next.
- Word-for-word quotes, unless a formal motion needs exact wording
- Who argued for what, and any heated moments
- Personal, health or HR details (keep those in a private note)
- The note-taker's own opinions
- Slide content: link the deck instead of copying it
- Jokes and side chat, however good
How to write action items people finish
An action item needs three things: a task someone can start today, one owner, and a date. Four vague ones, rewritten:
- Before:
Look into the vendor issueAfter: Get two quotes from new print vendors: Priya, due Friday, Nov 6, 2026 - Before:
Marketing to update the siteAfter: Rewrite the pricing page intro: Dan, due Wednesday, Nov 11, 2026 - Before:
Follow up with financeAfter: Ask finance if Q4 travel budget can move to Q1: Lee, due Tuesday, Nov 10, 2026 - Before:
Offsite TBDAfter: Poll the team on three offsite dates: Sam, due Monday, Nov 9, 2026
One owner, not a team: “marketing” never finishes anything, but Dan from marketing does. If nobody will take a task, write that down too; it tells the chair the item isn’t really agreed.
Meeting minutes example
A 30-minute people team meeting, written up with this template.
People team weekly minutes Date: Thursday, November 5, 2026 Time: 10:00 to 10:30 AM Place: Zoom Run by: Maria Lopez Minutes by: Sam Patel Present: Maria Lopez, Sam Patel, Priya Shah, Dan Ortiz Absent: Jordan Kim 1. Open enrollment Summary: 61% of staff have enrolled; the window closes November 20. Questions are mostly about the new dental plan. Decision: Send one reminder on November 12 with a dental plan FAQ. 2. December all-hands Summary: Last year's all-hands ran long and people left early. The team wants a shorter business half and a social hour after it. Decision: Keep updates to 45 minutes, then an hour-long hosted game for everyone on Thursday, December 10. 3. Exit survey Summary: Response rate fell to 40%. Dan thinks the survey is too long. Decision: Cut it to 8 questions before the next leaver. Action items - Write the enrollment reminder and FAQ: Priya, due Wednesday, Nov 11 - Book the all-hands game and send the invite: Sam, due Thursday, Nov 19 - Draft the shorter exit survey: Dan, due Friday, Nov 13 Next meeting: Thursday, November 12, 2026, 10:00 AM
Give the all-hands something worth writing down
The team in the example went for shorter updates, then an hour together. It is an easy change to make for December.
KraftyLab books live-hosted virtual games for exactly that slot. A host runs the whole hour on your call, Zoom by default or Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request, so nobody on your team has to emcee. Book about 2 weeks ahead. Two that suit a December all-hands, with today’s prices:
See every format on our team games and game show pages, get more ideas for the meeting itself from our all-hands meeting ideas, or send your date and headcount to get a free quote within 24 hours.
How to send meeting minutes
Put the action items in the email itself, at the top, where a quick reader still sees them.
Subject: Minutes: People team weekly, Nov 5 (3 actions) Hi all, Actions first: - Priya: enrollment reminder and FAQ, Wed Nov 11 - Sam: book the all-hands game, Thu Nov 19 - Dan: shorter exit survey, Fri Nov 13 Full minutes are below and in the team folder. Reply by Friday if anything is wrong. Sam
The subject says what it is, which meeting and how many actions, so it’s easy to find later. More on that in our guide to writing a work email.
