Meeting notes are a working record of a meeting: who attended, what the agenda covered, what the group concluded, what is blocked and who does what next. They are informal and written for the people who need to act. Formal minutes are the official record of a board or committee and capture motions, votes and decisions. Good notes put the action list at the center, because that list is what changes once the meeting ends.
Minutes are the formal record of a meeting, and notes are the informal working record a team uses to get things done. Robert's Rules of Order says minutes should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting: motions, votes and decisions, approved by the group at a later meeting. Meeting notes follow no such rules. They can include context, open questions and the reasoning behind a choice. Boards, committees and many associations need minutes, while most team meetings need notes. If your group votes on motions, keep both. Source: Henry M. Robert III et al., Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12th Edition (2020).
Invite the smallest group that can make the decision and do the work that follows. The authors of Decide & Deliver found that once a decision-making group reaches seven people, each additional member reduces decision effectiveness by about 10 percent. Larger groups spread responsibility thin and give each person less room to speak. People who only need the outcome can read the notes afterwards, which is a strong reason to write them well. Before sending the invite, check each name against a specific contribution. Source: Marcia W. Blenko, Michael C. Mankins and Paul Rogers, Decide & Deliver (2010).
Write each agenda item as a question the group needs to answer, and give it a time slot. Organizational psychologist Steven Rogelberg recommends framing agenda items as questions where possible and planning for the shortest reasonable meeting length, since work expands to fill the time allotted, a pattern known as Parkinson's law. A question also gives the discussion a clear finish line: once it has an answer, the item is done. Put the items that need the whole group first. Send the agenda ahead so people arrive prepared. Source: Steven G. Rogelberg, The Surprising Science of Meetings (2019).
An action item needs three things: a clear task, one named owner and a due date. Paul Axtell describes commitment in a meeting as agreeing on who will take what actions and in what time frame after the meeting. Start the task with a verb, so the owner knows exactly what done looks like. Name one person per item, even when several people help, so there is one person to ask about progress. Read the list aloud before the meeting ends so everyone confirms what they agreed to. Source: Paul Axtell, Meetings Matter (2015).
Good meeting notes summarize in your own words and keep conclusions, facts and next steps. In three studies of lecture note taking, Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer found that people typing on laptops tended to copy speech verbatim and did worse on conceptual questions than people who wrote by hand and rephrased. The same principle applies in meetings: deciding what matters while you write is what makes notes useful. Aim for one or two sentences per topic that capture the outcome and the reason for it. If your team records calls, the recording can serve as the full transcript. Source: Pam A. Mueller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer, The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard, Psychological Science (2014).