What should meeting notes include?

Three things: the decisions made and why, the action items with an owner and a date for each, and the questions left open. The discussion that led there is rarely worth recording — capture the conclusions, not the dialogue.

Should I write down everything that was said?

No. A transcript buries the decisions in dialogue. Capture what was decided, what happens next and who owns it, and what is still open. If a point of discussion matters, summarise it in a line.

How quickly should notes be shared?

Within the hour, while the meeting is fresh. Notes shared a day later are already half-forgotten and the action items lose momentum. Keeping them in a wiki where the team already looks means people actually read them.

Meeting Notes Template — Template

Q: What makes good business meeting notes?

They are skimmable and they assign ownership. Anyone who missed the meeting should be able to read the decisions and their own action items in under a minute. The best meeting notes are short on transcript and clear on who owns what next.

TL;DR. Meeting notes capture three things — decisions, action items with owners, and open questions. Not a transcript. Copy the body of this page into a wiki page before the meeting, fill it during, and share it within the hour.

The point of notes is the part of the meeting that outlives it: what was decided and what happens next. A transcript buries that in dialogue. Capture the conclusions, give every action an owner and a date, and the meeting was worth having.

What meeting notes include

Decisions. What was decided, and the reason in a line.
Action items. Each with one owner and one date.
Open questions. What did not get resolved.
Context. Attendees, date, and a link to the agenda.

How to use this template

Copy the body below into a new wiki page before the meeting.
Capture decisions, not dialogue.
Give every action an owner and a date.
Note what was left open for next time.
Share within the hour.

The template — copy from here

`<Meeting name> — <date>`

Attendees: <names>
Purpose: <one line — why this meeting happened>

Decisions

<Decision 1 — and the reason in a line.>
<Decision 2.>

Action items

Action	Owner	Due
`<action>`	`<name>`	`<date>`

Open questions

<Question that did not get answered — carries to next meeting.>

Notes

<Optional: a line per discussion point worth remembering. Summaries, not transcript.>

Common questions

What should they include? Decisions, owned action items, and open questions.

What makes good business meeting notes? Skimmable, and clear on who owns what next.

Write down everything said? No. Conclusions, not dialogue.

Keep meeting notes in a wiki where the team already looks, so action items get read and the decision history is searchable. Pair this with the Team Charter Template and the Decision Log Template, or browse the full template library.