Whether you are attending a meeting or are affected by its decisions, you will certainly receive the report. rendered. This mandatory document is drawn up at the end of the session. In particular, it formalizes the decisions taken during the debates, so that everyone can integrate the actions to be taken. If you are a writer, here are some tips on how to writing good meeting minutes.

The purpose of a report

In your capacity as secretary of the meeting, you will write the summary of the meeting. In order to give an accurate memory of what was said, you should render as faithfully as possible what was said during the debates. That is, you will not be able to let your own feelings interfere with your synthesis. Remain perfectly impartial.

The remarks should be accessible to anyone who was not present. Use the terms used in your meetings. The members present will be able to find the exact steps of the discussions.

Get to the point, don’t use long sentences. Your readers will usually have little time to spend on a meeting report, for various reasons. The following information is provided how to take minutes of a meeting with our tips.

Essential elements

There is some information that you must mention, such as :

  • the date on which the meeting was held ;
  • the list of people present ;
  • the list of those absent, excused or not ;
  • the agenda that has been scheduled;
  • the different points that were discussed;
  • the decisions that were finally adopted ;
  • the minutes distribution list.

You will also be able to specify the steps to be taken, the deadlines to be met, the skills to be deployed and the actors in the actions to be taken.

A tool to make good

meeting minutes ?

A form to be respected

In order for your readers to understand what it is all about, you should keep to a classic presentation. Your document will follow the company’s publishing guidelines with a company letterhead and its own font. If there is no designated font, choose one that is pleasant to read, serious and without frills.

You will start with a title and then include all of the elements listed above. For a clear presentation, feel free to use a full page for the agenda, another page for the participants and then the recording sequence. In this regard, you will have taken care during the meeting to make extensive notes, but the best alternative is to make an audio recording of the discussions.

The pages of your meeting minutes should all include pagination and a footer indicating your capacity as editor or secretary of the meeting, as well as the date of writing. Your style should be concise. Use the present tense.

Finally, you should ensure that your document is secure by distributing it in PDF format so that no one else can change it. Always keep in mind the function of the report, its reader, and therefore favour a pleasant formatting. These tips will certainly help you, as did our article on how to take minutes of a meeting, the example of the CODIR.