Using a standard meeting template for all of your meetings can save you a lot of time and provide a much better documentation of your organization's decision-making.
[Meeting Topic]
Attendees:
- [Attendee 1]
- [Attendee 2]
- [Attendee 3]
Time/Date/Location:
[Insert date information here]
Agenda
- 10 minutes: [Agenda item]
- 10 minutes: [Agenda item]
- 10 minutes: [Agenda item]
- 30 minutes: [Agenda item]
- 5 minutes: Wrap-up
Notes
- If you are having a physical meeting, the ideal is to project this page on the wall and add to it as the meeting occurs.
- This has two extremely positive effects
- It ensures that all the meeting attendees agree on the notes
- It eliminates the need for retyping notes later on
Action Items
- As the meeting progresses, add any action items to this section to make sure they don't get forgotten or dropped
- During the wrap-up phase of the meeting, review the notes and add any additional action items that spring to mind
- Each action item should specify the task, the person responsible, and the due date. Here is an example:
- Finalize and publish list of new features to PBworks.com Web site (Ramit Sethi, by 3/15/2008)