Encyclopedia of Leadership

11.8

THE MEETING MINUTES:

WHY, WHAT, AND HOW

Inspired by Antony Jay, George David Kieffer, M.M. Milstein, Roger Mosvick, and Robert Nelson.

Anyone at a meeting can record the minutes. However, the chairperson needs to be account-

able for ensuring that the minutes are accurate and are distributed promptly after the meeting

(i.e., within a day or two following the meeting). This tool reviews the purpose and elements

of minutes, and provides guidelines for writing them. Adapt these to the needs of your own

workgroup or team.

SECTION 11 TOOLS FORLEADINGMEETINGS 359

✔ to encourage action and results and serve as a record for follow-up

✔ to avoid reworking old issues (as John Cleese put it, “deciding what was decided at the last meeting”)

✔ to provide a record of the items discussed and decisions made

✔ to provide input for subsequent meeting agendas

The purpose of meeting minutes

➠Focus the minutes on meeting results or outcomes—decisions and agreed actions—rather than on summarizing and

recording meeting process and dialogue.

➠Clearly list the meeting decisions and follow-up actions to be taken, including who is responsible and by when.

[☛10.12 RASCI Planning]

➠Indicate the disposition of each agenda item.

➠List the names of the chairperson, any others who played a special role (e.g., recorder, process facilitator), and all

meeting participants.

➠Note meeting date, location, duration, and the times the meeting commenced and adjourned.

➠Note date, time, and place of the next meeting.

Elements of meeting minutes

❑ The recorder should be able to write the minutes in near final form as the meeting progresses. If the chairperson

summarizes the discussion around each agenda item prior to moving on the next agenda item, the recorder should

be able to use these summaries as confirmation for the minutes.

❑ In project teams, minutes are often recorded on a flip chart, whiteboard, or electronic media so decisions and action

planning are clear at the time. [☛10.9 Visible Information]

❑ The minutes should focus on results and agreed-on actions. [☛10.12 RASCI Planning]

❑ The minute recorder can be very helpful in enhancing clarity and action, by summarizing the results of each agenda

item in real time during the meeting. For example, “So, what I’m recording is that we decided XYZ, and that Chris

will review this decision with Bryan and Jeff by April 5th.”

❑ The minutes should be highly summarized, not a burden to read. Be brief; summarize outcomes and points of

agreement or disagreement; don’t record detailed input.

Guidelines for writing meeting minutes