As the meeting minutes are a reference document in the company, it is important to take care of both the content and the form. What are the minutes of a meeting like? in concrete terms? What elements should be included from the header to the conclusion? How to structure your working document? Find tips on how to keep track of all your team members’ discussions and make your decisions operational.
What are the contents of a meeting report?
A report is a document whose function is to inform about the strategy decided during a meeting. To ensure that the document serves its purpose, the recording secretary writes down the key points discussed during the session. For more information how to take minutes of a meetingIn the case of a meeting, he or she relies on his or her notes taken during the meeting and may ask for help from employees present, before validation.
The writer begins by setting the context for the issue that justifies the meetings. It specifies who are the people concerned by this issue and possibly adds the history of the debates. He then develops the themes addressed, which he presents in order of importance. Throughout the document, he transcribes the ideas and exchanges expressed by the participants as well as the decisions taken at the end of the session. He reported on the approval and concluded with remarks from the floor.
A tool to make good
meeting minutes ?
How should the report be structured?
A meeting report is a document that must be carefully formatted. Using a standard structure allows for a report that is recognizable by the members. It includes 4 distinct parts:
- header with company logo, title and date, agenda, present, absent and excused;
- the introduction with the problematic and the context ;
- the body of the text with the interventions of the people present; the summary of the exchanges and decisions taken; the actions to be taken and the role entrusted to each of the participants;
- the conclusion with the date of the next meeting and any remarks.
The person in charge of writing the summary should make sure that it is well structured with the help of headings. To save time, she can use a tool that includes a preset template.
Drafting steps for an operational working document
Now that you have an idea of the meeting minutes layoutIn the next section, we’ll look at the tips and steps for writing. The Recording Secretary will need to clean up the document promptly after the meeting. Good note-taking will make the process easier.
In order to produce a relevant document and to keep a good memory of the exchanges, it is a good idea to remember the function of the document by relying on the definition of meeting minutes. Keep the reader in mind and try to make it easy for him or her to read by keeping your report in order and in a pleasing form. Once the expected document is finished, you can use a collaborative tool to share it.
