Why should we write a meeting minute?

Meetings become increasingly inevitable at work. They are considered as a means of communication and collaboration, that are necessary to move projects forward, get participants to speak and make decisions.

At the end of each meeting, it is advisable to send a report to all concerned persons, including those who couldn’t join.

To send a report, it would have to be written first, but many people may consider this task as a time consumer, so they may resist doing it and wondering what the interest of writing meeting minutes.

What is the use of writing meeting reports?

There are many good reasons to write meeting minutes. Here are just a few:

A report serves as a reference. We can refer to it to refresh our memory of what had been decided during the meeting.

• A report allows you to keep track of everything that was said or acted upon by the participants during the meeting.
• A report serves as a basis for preparing for the next meeting.
• A report serves as a means of communication. It serves to remind / inform concerned people including those who couldn’t join the meeting of the decisions taken. Thanks to that, all concerned persons, will not have the feeling of having missed something, will be able to follow the progress of the concerned subject and will know exactly what is expected of them.

How to write a good report?

A good report must be synthetic, clear and structured.

It must objectively and faithfully transcribe the course of the meeting, while highlighting the essential elements such as the priority actions that were identified and the different decisions that were taken during the session.

For this, it is advisable to:

• Write the report during the meeting or immediately after the end of it.
• If you decide to take minutes after the meeting is over, remember to take notes so you don't forget anything.
• In this case, there are tips to help you record everything, such as recordings of meetings via Teams or other videoconferencing applications if the meeting is remotely or through your Dictaphone or you can take notes if you are in a face-to-face meeting. Regardless of the solution chosen, it is advisable to inform the participants of the recording of the session.
• Use a report frame and pre-fill it with the names of the participants, the place and time of the meeting as well as the agenda in order to save time during the meeting.
• Separate the list of information, decisions and actions identified.
• Regarding the information list, recall all the information points discussed during the meeting.
• Regarding the list of decisions, faithfully report the list of decisions taken during the meeting and remind the decision maker (s) for each decision.
• Regarding the list of actions, recall the actions identified and indicate the names of the responsible as well as the identified deadlines.
• Include in the minutes links or screenshots of any working documents used during the meeting so that participants can refer to them as needed. For example, add links to mind maps (mind mappings) made during the session, files or dashboard diagram that were shared with participants...

Conclusion:

In conclusion, you now know the usefulness of writing a report. You can therefore prepare your minutes frame for your next meetings.

Article written by Sara MOUDRIK HORN