28+ BEST Meeting Minutes Templates in MS WORD

If you are appointed as a secretary on a company’s board, recording the minutes of different meetings is one of your key responsibilities. So, for that purpose, you must know how to take minutes of the meetings effectively. This article contains a great collection of some best meeting minutes templates that can prove to be quite helpful to you.

These pre-formatted meeting minutes templates will help you a lot in creating effective minutes for a meeting. All the editable meeting minutes samples provided here on this page are available in Microsoft Word format. Using these templates will save you a lot of time and effort. You simply chose a template, edit it in the Microsoft program as per your requirement, and use it with ease.

What are Meeting Minutes?

To put it simply, meeting minutes are the official written records of a meeting. Basically, it is quite important to record all the significant details of a meeting. Meeting minutes include all the key issues that were actually discussed in a particular meeting. It also includes all the key decisions that were taken during that meeting.

Meeting minutes are also sometimes known as meeting notes. It is quite useful to take minutes of every type of formal or informal meeting. Whether it be a board meeting, a sales meeting, an Annual General Meeting, or any other type of meeting, taking minutes of the meeting is always helpful. Having a proper record of everything that happened in a meeting is always great for future references.

Sample Meeting Minutes Templates Are Here

Regular Meeting Minutes Template

School PTA Meeting Minutes Template

Project Meeting Minutes Word Template

Sample Meeting Minutes Template

Agenda and Meeting Minutes Template in MS WORD

Health & Safety Committee Meeting Minutes Template

Short Form Meeting Minutes Sample

Development Meeting Minutes Template in WORD

Standard Meeting Minutes Format

Sample Project Meeting Minutes Template

Free Editable Meeting Minutes Template

Professional Meeting Minutes Template in DOC Format

Departmental Meeting Minutes Example

Club’s Executive Committee Meeting Minutes Template

Formal Meeting Minutes Format

Why it is Important to Record or Take Meeting Minutes?

Meeting minutes are one of the important official documents of a company. It must be recorded and prepared in such a way so that any other person can easily understand what actually happened at the meeting.

Preparing the minutes of a meeting does not mean that the minutes must include all the details or actions word by word. The main purpose is to actually record only the important details and happenings of a meeting. Following are some other key benefits of meeting minutes that will further indicate the purpose and importance of the minutes:

• In some cases, meeting minutes may be required to be shared with the shareholders or any other stakeholders by law. That is why it becomes important to record and keep the minutes of a meeting.
• The meeting minutes indicate the decisions made in a particular meeting and the future plans or steps to implement those decisions.
• The minutes of a meeting help present the detailed happenings of a meeting in a properly organized way.
• It is useful for those who could not attend the meeting as well as the attendees of the meeting. For those who could not attend the meeting, the minutes help them easily understand what actually happened at a particular meeting.
• The meeting minutes can be of great importance for any future references.
• Meeting minutes play an important part in reminding the participant(s) of the meeting about their responsibilities.
• Recording the minutes of a meeting in an effective way is the best way for the organization’s executive management to stay transparent. This way they can not be accused of concealing any type of important information or detail.
• Minutes can be of great help to indicate the proof of a certain decision or action.

Official Meeting Minutes Templates Are Here

Classic Style Meeting Minutes Template

Charity’s Meeting Minutes Document

Fillable Meeting Minutes Template MS WORD

Official Meeting Minutes Template

Detailed Meeting Minutes Format

Blank Meeting Minutes Doc Template

Customizable Site Meeting Minutes Template

Organization’s Formal Meeting Minutes Sample

Simple Committee Meeting Minutes Example

Academic Meeting Minutes Template in Word

Basic Meeting Minutes Template

Management Committee Meeting Minutes Template

University’s Meeting Minutes Word Template

School’s Fillable Meeting Minutes Template

How to Record or Take Meeting Minutes Effectively?

The minutes of a meeting are a tangible official record of a meeting. It can be of great help to any kind of stakeholder in an organization. For example, a shareholder may request the minutes of a recently held Board meeting or a regulatory authority might ask to provide a copy of the minutes of an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for some compliance purposes.

So, being a secretary on a company’s board or anyone responsible for taking or recording the minutes of a meeting, you must know how to effectively record or take meeting minutes. For this, you can also use the meeting minutes templates given here on this page. However, if you want to know how to record minutes of a meeting in a professional way, then make sure to keep in mind the given below useful tips:

• Create an outline of the minutes of a meeting so that it becomes easy for you to record minutes effectively. For this purpose, a meeting minutes template can also be used.
• Then write down the nature of the meeting for which minutes are being recorded. For example, a Board of Directors’ meeting, an AGM, shareholders meeting, etc.
• Mention the name of the organization in full.
• Write the date, day, and location of the meeting.
• It is optional to write the timings in the minutes of a meeting. For example, one can write the commencement time of the meeting, its duration, and the finish time.
• Name of the person chairing the meeting and the name of the secretary.
• Briefly include the purpose of the meeting.
• Include any amendments or corrections related to any previous meeting(s).
• Add the name of all the participants as well as all the absentees.
• Add the agenda items and the issues that were highlighted or discussed in the meeting.
• Record all the decisions that were taken in the meeting.
• Record the resolutions that were taken, the voting results (in case of voting for any such resolution), and the final motion or decision i.e., whether or not the resolution is passed or not.
• It is quite important that the minutes are taken and recorded in real-time.
• Make sure to be brief and concise in your writing. The minutes must be drafted or recorded in such a way so that anyone easily understands the details or information provided in those minutes.
• Being the minutes taker of the meeting, make sure not to include:
  • your opinion, judgment, or interpretation.
  • all the discussion. Just write down what was the matter and what is the final decision.
  • any motion or resolution that was simply withdrawn.
  • any repeated information.
• Date and timing of the next meeting.
• Some spelling or grammatical mistakes can be avoided while recording the minutes of a meeting. However, it is allowed only to the extent where the message of the statement is not distorted.