Meetings, especially official meetings, are often based on many important topics, and people who attend the meetings are often required to follow what they have been instructed in the meeting. The problem arises when people fail to follow the meeting discussion because they don’t note down what was discussed. This often leads them to face serious problems. One of the most practical solutions to this problem is to use a meeting minutes template.
What are the meeting minutes?
Meeting minutes are prepared just like meeting notes. However, they are a bit informal, and a person prepares them for his personal use; he doesn’t need to submit this document anywhere.
Why is it important to use a meeting minutes document?
For effective management of the work that is assigned in meetings, it is essential to use a document, which is commonly known as a meeting minutes document. People who have never created this document often struggle, as they often find themselves in confusion as to how they should take notes and what they should record. Many people also don’t know what information they should add to this document. The main details include:
Date of the meeting
There can be multiple documents being used by a person to keep track of different types of work he is going to do. Mostly, meetings are distinguished with the help of the date on which they are held.
Meeting type
Conferences are of different types. Some of them are formal, while others are informal. Some conferences include the staff of a specific department only, while others are between the stakeholders of the company. Mentioning the type of conference is important.
Names of attendees
Organizers have to keep track of those people who are attending the meeting. The names of all the attendees, along with their designation in the company, are mentioned in the meeting minutes.
Agenda
Although it is not mandatory, if there is an agenda and it is mentioned in the document, it can be very helpful for people to keep them on track. In case the person who created the meeting minutes is not available, he can easily hand over this document to one of the attendees and prevent people from facing any type of inconvenience.
Responsibilities of attendees
This document outlines what attendees or employees of the company have to do. In other words, tasks are assigned to each and every person so that all the attendees can know the proceedings of the meeting.
Meeting ending time
Since everyone’s time at the conference is valuable, it is important to state the total duration and also the total time for which the meeting was concluded.
What are the benefits of the meeting note template?
A few notable benefits of this template include:
They keep everyone organized
It is very easy to get off track and start discussing things that don’t matter much, and this happens because of the flexible nature of the discussion. Without a meeting minutes document, it is next to impossible to keep people organized. Those who use this document can stay on track as they know what they are supposed to do in the meeting.
It holds people accountable
Since responsibilities are assigned in the meeting, everyone knows their duties, and therefore, it can be easily seen who can be held accountable for which task. Due to taking notes, no one can refuse to take on any task.
It provides legal protection
Before signing any contract or agreement, meetings are held, and important discussions are noted in the meeting minutes document. These can be consulted as and when there is a dispute that needs to be resolved. Companies also use it to protect them legally because if there is no proof of discussion, things can take a turn for the worse.
It is helpful in decision-making
Many stakeholders find it difficult to decide in some particular situation because they can’t decide anything unless they take suggestions from senior employees in their organization. Since the meeting minutes templates help record important discussions, stakeholders can review them later on and see what was discussed and what suggestions were made.
