What minutes are for
Minutes are the official, written record of a meeting. They show that the meeting took place, who attended, what was decided and what happens next. For formal bodies they can also be an important governance record. For everyday teams they are simply a memory aid that saves repeat conversations.
Before the meeting
- Get the agenda. Use it as the skeleton for your notes so the minutes follow the same order.
- Prepare the basics. Meeting name, date, time, location or link, chair, and the expected attendees.
- Review the last minutes. You'll need to know which actions are due.
- Agree the level of detail. Ask the chair whether they want a short action-focused record or a fuller formal one.
During the meeting
- Write down decisions first. These are what readers look for.
- Capture actions with an owner and a date. If either is missing, ask before the meeting ends.
- Note motions and votes if your body uses them: the wording, who moved it and the result.
- Summarize discussion in a line or two. You are not producing a transcript.
- Don't be shy about asking people to repeat figures, names or deadlines.
Writing it up
- Start with the header: name, date, time, place, attendees and apologies.
- Follow the agenda order, one heading per item.
- Write in the past tense and in neutral language: “The committee agreed to…”.
- Separate decisions from discussion so the outcomes are easy to find.
- End with the action list and the time of the next meeting.
Approval and filing
- Send the draft to the chair promptly, ideally within a couple of working days.
- Mark circulated drafts as “draft” until approved.
- After approval, sign and store the minutes with your other records.
- Check how long you are required to keep them: for example, UK companies must keep minutes of directors' meetings for at least ten years under the Companies Act 2006, section 248.
Common mistakes
- Writing a transcript so long that the decisions are buried.
- Recording opinions or personal comments about individuals.
- Leaving actions without owners or dates.
- Not checking spelling of names and accuracy of numbers.
- Circulating minutes weeks after the meeting.
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