How to have great meetings tip 10: Minutes are output, Actions, and Decisions

30 Mar 2022 · 1 min

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In this brief instructional tip, Chris Fenning explains that effective meeting minutes should focus on three core elements rather than a verbatim transcript: the meeting’s output (the overall result or goal achieved), the specific actions (who will do what and by when), and the decisions made (who decided what). He emphasizes that capturing these three components provides a concise, useful record of what was accomplished, without the need for lengthy, court‑style notes. The guidance encourages meeting facilitators to streamline note‑taking by concentrating on these high‑value items to ensure clarity and accountability.

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How to have a great meeting, tip number 10. The minutes are the output, the actions, and the decisions. When you're taking notes and minutes for a meeting, you don't need a complete transcript of the event. This isn't a court. This isn't where you're having to need evidence of everything that was said. When you're producing notes from a meeting, the output is the biggest piece of those minutes. It's what you set out to achieve, and it captures what you did in the meeting. In addition to that, you should capture actions and decisions. For an action, how do you do this? You capture who is going to do what and by when. And for any decisions, you write down who decided what. Between the output, the actions, and the decisions, you will have a really good record of what was achieved and decided in that meeting. So if you want to have a great meeting, you don't want to spend all your time producing lengthy minutes and notes. Focus on the output, the actions, and the decisions.