How do I take notes in a meeting?
Short answerFocus on decisions, action items, and key points—not a full transcript. Use a consistent format and review your notes right after the meeting.
What to capture (and what to skip)
In a meeting, your goal is to record what matters for later: decisions made, action items with owners, deadlines, and any unresolved questions. You don't need to write down every word. Listen for cues like 'we decided,' 'who will,' or 'by when.'
If you're on a video call, use the chat or a shared doc to capture links and side comments. If you're in person, a simple notebook or a notes app works fine.
- Date, time, and attendees (for reference)
- Decisions: what was agreed and why
- Action items: task, owner, due date
- Open questions: what still needs follow-up
- Key data or figures mentioned
A simple meeting notes template
Try a three-column layout: left for topics, middle for notes, right for actions. Or use a bullet list with clear headings. After the meeting, spend five minutes cleaning up your notes and sending action items to the team.
If you're not the note-taker, still jot down your own action items. Don't rely on someone else's summary for your tasks.
Common mistakes
- Writing a verbatim transcript instead of focusing on decisions and actions.
- Waiting until after the meeting to write notes, when details are already fuzzy.
- Not marking who is responsible for each action item, making follow-up impossible.
