Youth Venture

Meeting minutes are notes about what happened at the meeting; what was discussed and decided, who’s going to do what, and when the next meeting is. Minutes are helpful because they can be given to people who missed the meeting and they serve as a record for future reference.

Before the Meeting:

• Choose your medium for taking notes (i.e. pen and paper, laptop computer). You may also want to use a tape recorder during the meeting as a back up to your notes.
• Be prepared. Look over the meeting agenda and any background documents to be discussed during the meeting. Have the minutes from the last meeting on hand for reference. It is especially important for you to be prepared if you plan to be an active participant during the meeting.

During the Meeting:

• Keep track of meeting attendees. The note taker should have a complete list of all attendees of the meeting. If you are unfamiliar with the names of the attendees, ask for introductions or pass around an attendance sheet.
• Don't try to write down everything. Focus on recording general ideas of the issues discussed, the major points raised, what decisions were made, and who is going to carry out activities.

After the Meeting:

• Write up the minutes as soon as possible, while everything is still fresh in your mind.
• Ask for help if you need it. It can be useful to have another meeting attendee read through your minutes before you distribute them to see if you have missed anything.
• Copy and distribute your minutes to the members of the team (by email, regular mail, handing them out at school; whatever’s most convenient). You may also want to post them in a central place, such as your team’s website.
• Save a record of the minutes. Keep all meeting minutes together in a folder, binder, or computer folder.

What to Include:

• Include the date, time, place and type of the meeting (weekly, monthly, or special purpose).
• Include the names of the meeting attendees.
• Write down items in the order they are discussed. Give each item a separate heading.
• Keep the minutes concise and to the point. Don’t write down every detail of each discussion. You do not need to record topics irrelevant to the business at hand.
• Emphasize action steps. During the meeting, the group should decide what actions should be taken and who is responsible for each task. Emphasize the action steps in the minutes by underlying them or bolding the text. Another option is to attach a separate “Action Steps” sheet to the minutes.
• Be as accurate as possible and don’t include any of your own subjective opinions. Minutes should be objective and factual.
• Note the place, time and date of the next meeting. This way all of the members will be informed ahead of time.

More YV Tip Sheets:

• Sample Meeting Minutes

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