Attending meetings can be fun and motivating, but what happens after the meeting? Sometimes nothing. Ever wonder what you are doing wrong?
It really is everyone’s responsibility to write down notes during the meeting. This is to help ensure they don’t miss important information, future tasks, or activities for which they are held accountable.
There should be a meeting summary and action plan distributed immediately after the meeting, Instant Minutes. The person who is assigned to keep minutes, be the note-taker or the secretary of the meeting can create a summary sheet with action plans. This format will provide a structure for easy note-taking and followup procedures.
Here are some of the things the meeting summary should highlight:
- The meeting subject
- Who called the meeting
- The meeting date
- The start and end time
- The person responsible for the minutes and their contact information
- A list of participants to send minutes to as well as a list of other who need to be informed. Minutes should be sent to them too.
- A list of key points of discussion along with the outcomes and accomplishments.
- A list of actions to be taken, the people responsible for those tasks and when the tasks need to be completed or progress reported.
- The date and time of the next meeting with preliminary agenda items.
Having a meeting should be just the start of making things happen. Clear and concise minutes provide participants guidance for effective execution of ideas and decisions.
To learn more about how to hold an effective meeting, watch Kit Welchlin’s presentation. Make sure you check back next Monday for another video blog.