Meeting minutes are notes taken during a meeting to record what happens in the meeting. They serve as a formal record of the meeting, while meeting notes are informal notes taken by an individual attendee. Meeting minutes are used to record meaningful discussions, decisions, and key takeaways from a meeting. They are later reviewed to set agendas for future meetings. Meeting minutes are important because they are used to document the key issues raised during a meeting. They record the important events of both formal and informal meetings. Some of the most common uses of meeting minutes include:

• Record keeping of takeaways and objectives of the meeting
• Summary for those who couldn’t attend the meeting
• Legal documents in case of formal meetings
• Reference document for future meetings

The elements of meeting minutes include the date and time, names of present and absent participants, location, meeting agenda, topics discussed, list of motions raised, and voting outcomes, key takeaways, and next actionable steps. If the purpose is to discuss the progress of an ongoing project, then minutes should include project status, supplementary documents, next tasks assigned, name of individuals assigned for each task, and deadlines set for following tasks. The style and content of meeting minutes will vary depending on the organization and how it’s structured. Regardless, you should always include the basics, like date, time, and participants. But many organizations will also benefit from having other, optional items like supplementary documents and action items.