Meeting minutes are the official written record of a meeting: who attended, what was discussed, what was decided and who agreed to do what next. Board secretaries, team leads, committee members and school PTA officers take them so decisions aren’t forgotten and absent members can catch up.
Below are 15+ meeting minutes templates, all in Word. The set covers formal minutes for board and company meetings, a business meeting layout, a team meeting version and a school PTA format. For quick catch-ups, a short-form template keeps everything to one page. Each minutes of meeting format opens in Word, so you can type notes live and share them the same day.
Fill in the header and agenda before the meeting starts, so you only record outcomes during it. Note decisions rather than word-for-word conversation, and send out the draft within 24 hours while memories are fresh.
Minutes often record decisions that need follow-up. See our task list templates for action items, meeting request email templates to schedule the next meeting, and team charter templates to agree how the team works.
Meeting Minutes Templates
Simple Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 39kb
Short Form Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 48kb
Formal Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 528kb
Comapny Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 43kb
Business Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 41kb
School PTA Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 53kb
Classic Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 42kb
Team Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 34kb
Official Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 63kb
Preparing Minutes of a Meeting
Meeting minutes are a record of what happened at a particular meeting. Taking minutes is important because they provide written details such as the meeting’s agenda, what happened at the meeting, the decisions taken, the company’s future plans and the expected time of the next meeting. To write effective meeting minutes, consider including the following:
- Persons who are present at the meeting and the absentees.
- The date, time and the place where the meeting is held.
- The main agenda items of the meeting.
- Purpose and main objective of the meeting.
- Records of actions or tasks performed.
- The future decisions made.
- Course that is decided to perform or implement future decisions.
- Expected time and date of the next meeting.
- If a poll took place during the meeting, take proper notes of the result of the vote. Also note who voted for and who voted against.
- It is also important to note down the time at which the meeting ended.
Meeting Minutes Examples
Elegant Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 58kb
Hotel Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 1221kb
Decent Looking Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 382kb
Project Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 193kb
Health and Safety Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 17kb
Sample Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 12kb
Shareholders’ Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 16kb
Company’s Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 10kb
Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes
File Format: MS Word
File Size: 33kb
Advantages of Meeting Minutes
In the corporate sector all over the world, taking minutes of meetings is common practice. Some advantages of taking meeting minutes are:
- Enhances the level of corporate governance of the company.
- It assists the participants as well as the absentees to get a quick overview of the meeting.
- Minutes are very useful in making the meeting more efficient and effective.
- They serve as a tool to set guidelines for the next meeting.
- With the minutes being taken, the meeting seems more formal and professional.
- The minutes make it easy to identify and analyze whether the actions and decisions in the meeting were taken by persons with actual authority to do so.
- The minutes also provide legal protection to the company. For example, if a person at the meeting acted in a particular way or made a particular statement and later denies it, the minutes can be used as proof against that person.
Recording Meeting Decisions and Follow-Up
Choose minutes that capture decisions and accountable actions. Routine minutes are usually a useful record of outcomes, not a transcript of every comment. For additional editable layouts, WordNExcelTemplates’ meeting minutes templates provide another way to record decisions and follow-up actions.
- Record the meeting details, participants and agenda items.
- Separate discussion summaries, decisions and unresolved matters.
- Assign actions with owners and dates, then follow the approval and distribution process.
Worked Example
Example: “The team discussed the supplier” is incomplete. A useful entry records the decision to request revised delivery dates, names the person responsible and states when the response is needed. If no decision was reached, record that explicitly.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Avoid attributing views inaccurately or including unnecessary sensitive information. Formal bodies may have specific minute-taking requirements that a general template does not satisfy.
Related Templates
- Team Charter Templates
- Communication Plan Templates
- Risk Register Templates
- Implementation Plan Templates
Frequently Asked Questions
Do minutes need to record every word?
Usually not for a routine business meeting. Capture the material decisions and actions, while following any specific legal or governance requirements that apply.
What should happen to unfinished actions?
Carry them forward with their owner and status, explain material delays and agree a revised next step. Do not silently remove them from the record.
