FREE 19+ Minutes Writing Samples and Templates in PDF | MS Word

Meeting minutes is one of the most tangible records that you can have regarding the meeting that you just had with a team. It is considered to be a good source of information for what everyone involved thinks about the meeting agenda. It helps to clarify the expectations that one might have regarding the agenda.

Meeting minutes is one of the most tangible records that you can have regarding the meeting that you just had with a team. It is considered to be a good source of information for what everyone involved thinks about the meeting agenda. It helps to clarify the expectations that one might have regarding the agenda.

• Useful Writing Templates
• Sample Meeting Minutes Templates

If you have been assigned to be the secretary of your meetings, you can take a look at this article for some guidelines and references that can help to make your task way easier than you think it is. We even have project meeting minutes templates to download right from this very article. Ready? Read on!

Sample Annual General Meeting Minutes Template

Board Meeting Minutes Sample

Sample Business Meeting Minutes Template

Sample Project Meeting Minutes Template

Church Meeting Minutes Sample Template

Sample Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Template

Board Meeting Minutes Template

Annual Meeting Minutes Template

Business Meeting Minutes Template

Project Meeting Minutes Template

Club Meeting Minutes Template

Church Meeting Minutes Template

Staff Minutes of Meeting Template

Team Meeting Minutes Template

How to Write Minutes

Writing meeting minutes should never be deemed as a complicated task. There are a few simple methods that you can follow that would make your minutes look polished and organized. Here a few tips that we would like to share with you.

1. Prepare Ahead

• Know the policies. The organization you are taking minutes for might be following a certain set of policies regarding how to take down meeting minutes. You also have to make sure that you are well aware of what your role is as the minutes taker. You should not have any other major role aside from taking down the minutes. Do not be afraid to ask the facilitator what you should include in the minutes and what would the minutes be used for: for the organization’s record or will it be disseminated to the participants of the meeting. You may also see summary writing samples & templates
• Have a template prepared. Almost all of the meeting minutes that you will take down will basically have the same information or pattern. Preparing a free sample meeting minutes templates will help to make your meeting minutes taking more organized and it will make your task easier and simpler. It also gives a uniform format for all of the meeting minutes you will be taking. Your template should have the following fields:
  • Name of the organization
  • Type of meeting you are having (annual, weekly, monthly, bimonthly, etc.)
  • Date
  • Start time and end time
  • Location
  • Name of the president/facilitator
  • Your name
  • List of participants
  • Your signature
  • Agenda, if you have one
• Bring something to take down notes with. It can either be a laptop, a notebook, or a few pieces of paper. Anything that you would consider to be a good material to take down notes with would be fine. You may even have a device to record the meeting minutes for transcribing later on. Check out some useful meeting notes that will surely come in handy.

2. Taking Down the Minutes

• Prepare an attendance sheet. This will be something that you can pass around to those who are involved with the meeting to list their name down. You can take a look at our Attendance Sheet Templates to give you a good idea of how your attendance sheet should look like.
• Start jotting down your notes. With your prepared meeting minutes template, start filling out all of the fields. Before the meeting starts, start writing down a few basics such as the name of the organization and the type of meeting you’re having. If a notice for the meeting was sent out to the participants, you have to make sure to attach that notice alongside your minutes.
• Pay attention. Make sure that you pay close attention to all of the motions of the meeting. Active listening is the key to ensuring that you are able to capture all the important details of the meeting. Record any relevant information such as the following:
  • Specific wording such as, “I move to accept the agenda of the meeting.”
  • The name of the person who proposed the motion.
  • Results and the number of people who voted.
• Listen and obtain copies of reports. Make sure that you take down notes of who read the sample report. Politely ask the reader of the report where he/she got the copy of the report especially if you cannot find the copy on the Internet.
• Record assignments. Make sure to keep track of who is assigned to what. If there is a reason as to why the person was assigned to the specific assignment, write it down as well.
• Record the rulings. Make sure you include objections that were made for a certain procedure and why it was objected. Do the same for procedures that were accepted. Do not forget to also include the final decision of the chairperson or the facilitator. You may also like free writing samples
• Summarize the discussions. Be as objective as possible and make sure to include any concrete points.
• Wrap up. Take note of the end time. Make sure to record the time that the meeting has finished. Take a look at your notes and see if you are missing any details.

3. Transcribe What You Recorded

• Do this as soon as possible. It would be great to do this while the events that happened are still fresh in your mind.
• Start typing. It would be better to use a computer to do your transcribing as you will be able to make corrections easily.
• Organize. Make sure you organize your minutes into neat paragraphs. Make use of lists and bullets as this makes it easier to read the meeting minutes. Utilize a meeting summary template as a guide and to help make things easier for you.
• Make use of simple language. When transcribing the meeting minutes, make sure that you write in a clear and simple manner.
• Make copies. Give the members of the meeting a copy of the minutes. You can send it via email or you can print out copies to hand it out to them. If you do not have their contact lists, you can ask the facilitator or the chairperson to disseminate the meeting minutes.

Sample Annual General Meeting Minutes

Standard Board of Director Meeting Minutes

Safety Committee Meeting Minutes in Word Format

Finance Committee Meeting Minutes in PDF

Business Meeting Minutes Format in PDF

Sample Meeting Minutes Format

Making Use of the Samples and Templates

This article has a wide variety of meeting minute format samples available for your use. So how can you make the most out of the samples we have uploaded here? Keep reading to find out how.

1. Pick a template of your choice. 

Set up time to use templates, for your job will become way easier with these pre-made templates that are dedicated to making the writing of the meeting minutes a less tedious task. You may also see business writing samples & templates

2. Open the file.

Once you have picked and downloaded the file of your choice, you can open the file in the appropriate office editor that is available on your laptop. Make sure that your laptop is updated to the latest version of its operating system. You may also like biography writing samples and templates

3. Add your company/organization’s specifics.

You can start adding your logo, your company name, and copyright signs.

4. Start personalizing.

You can change the theme, change the color of the fonts, change the font style, as well as the font size. You may even add a background image if you feel like it is appropriate to do so. You can pick out the colors to match your company’s colors or you may opt to choose complimenting ones. You may also check out article writing samples & templates

5. Change the fields.

You can start changing the fields to the ones that you feel you can make use of. Customize it according to the needs of your company.

6. Proofread the template.

You want to make sure that everything has been accounted for such as the fields that you are going to use. You might need more or you might need less. Also, make sure that you spelled everything right. You may also see memo writing samples & templates

7. Save your template.

The template that you have should be saved on your laptop. Make a folder for your meeting minutes for easy reference. You may also like essay writing samples & templates