Good Templates You Can Use for Meeting Minutes
Whether it be face-to-face meetings or virtual meetings via large conference calls, taking good notes is a must in order to create usable minutes. These are, after all, the written records of the meeting — enumerating and describing the highlights of the session from agenda, attendees, action plan, decisions, and more.
A premade template can make it easier for the notetaker to create the official meeting minutes. People usually have trouble creating meeting minutes and choosing a format. However, with a premade template, all you have to do is input the necessary details in the fields and you’re good to go. Check out these templates we found that you can use for your meeting minutes:
Microsoft Office Templates
Microsoft Word has its own templates for all kinds of documents and among those are templates for meeting minutes. You’ll be able to see and use these templates on the Word application itself or from its official website.
From Microsoft Word application
To access the meeting minutes templates from the Word application, simply pull up Word, click New from the menu on the left side, and type in “meeting minutes” on the search box. After this, you’ll be able to find various meeting minutes templates you can easily use.
One of them is the Elegant meeting minutes template that features a blue and white design. It’s simple, detailed, and includes several key information such as the time, location, attendees, agenda topics together with its discussions, conclusions, and more.
Another good Word meeting minutes template is the Formal meeting minutes which takes on the traditional look and format. It includes the call to order, roll call, approval of the prior meeting minutes, open issues, and more.
From Microsoft Office Website
Microsoft’s Office official website also contains several meeting minutes that you won’t be able to find on the application. In this case, you can edit the document online or download the template so you can use it in your Word application.
A good meeting minutes template you can get is the Meeting minutes (simple). It features a clean and simple format and includes the basic elements such as location, date, time, attendees, agenda items, plus the action items and their owners, deadlines, and statuses.
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Third-Party Templates
If the templates from Microsoft Word do not exactly suit your taste, there are various third-party templates you can use as an alternative. These are all available on the Internet from credible websites, where you can simply download them and utilize them for your own. I have listed a few of my favorites below.
From Smartsheet®
Smartsheet provides various free meeting minutes templates with different outlines that are applicable for all kinds of meetings.
Their Detailed Meeting Minutes Template allows you to capture all the important details of the meeting — from the attendees, objectives, agendas, presenters, time allocation, decisions, new actions, and more. You even have the option to customize the template to add in your logo.
From Vertex42
Vertex42 also offers free meeting minutes templates for a wide variety of meetings. Best of all is that their themes are theme-enabled, which means you can edit and change the color scheme or font when you create your meeting minutes on Word.
One of their templates is the Formal Meeting Minutes which follows the 11th edition of Robert’s Rules of Order. It includes the call to order, attendees, approval of minutes, officer’s reports and other reports, main motions, and announcements made in the meeting.
Your Very Own Meeting Minutes Template
If you’re still having trouble using these premade templates, you can devise your own meeting minutes template. It is likely that these premade templates have unnecessary elements and fields that you don’t need for the meeting minutes in your company. This can cause confusion and inefficiency, the opposite of what meeting minutes is trying to achieve. In this case, create your own unique format and use that instead.
Additionally, there are large conference call providers that can give a meeting summary of your virtual meeting. When you record your conference call, you can send them the audio recording and have them provide an easy-to-read, outlined summary of your meeting. You can use this as your official meeting minutes or use it as a reference as you create your official meeting minutes.