Meeting minutes are concise notes that summarize the discussions, decisions, and action items from a meeting. They serve as an official record that attendees can refer back to for clarification and accountability. The term "minutes" comes from the Latin "minuta scriptura," meaning small notes, not the measurement of time. (source)
Meeting minutes are important because they provide accountability, ensure alignment among team members, and serve as a reference for decisions and next steps. Without written minutes, it's easy to forget commitments or misinterpret responsibilities, leading to confusion and reduced productivity. (source)
Effective meeting minutes should include the meeting date, list of attendees, the meeting's purpose, agenda items discussed, relevant documents or links, and clear next steps with assigned responsibilities and deadlines. (source)
It's best to designate a specific person to take meeting minutes—ideally someone who is not running the meeting. Rotating the note-taker role among team members can help ensure inclusivity and engagement. (source)
To ensure everyone can access meeting minutes, use a collaborative tool like Spinach AI, Google Docs, or OneNote. Sharing minutes in a central, accessible location fosters accountability and encourages follow-through. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI offers a library of over 100 meeting agenda and minutes templates, including templates for team meetings, board meetings, and leadership meetings. These templates can be used directly in Spinach AI or downloaded in Word, Excel, or PDF formats. (source)
Best practices include documenting the basics (date, attendees, purpose), taking minutes during the meeting, using a clear agenda, summarizing key points instead of writing verbatim, asking for clarification when needed, assigning next steps, and making the minutes easily accessible. (source)
Meeting minutes improve accountability by clearly documenting decisions, action items, and who is responsible for each task. This written record helps prevent misunderstandings and ensures follow-through on commitments. (source)
Meeting minutes help with alignment by providing a single source of truth for what was discussed and decided. This reduces miscommunication and ensures everyone is clear on next steps and responsibilities. (source)
You can use collaborative tools like Spinach AI, Google Docs, OneNote, or dedicated meeting minute software to take and share meeting minutes efficiently. Spinach AI is designed to automate and streamline this process. (source)
Focus on summarizing key points, decisions, and action items rather than writing everything verbatim. Use a structured template and ask for clarification during the meeting if needed. (source)
Spinach AI automates the process of taking meeting minutes by capturing notes, action items, and outcomes in real time. It integrates with your agenda, making it easy to document discussions and assign next steps, and ensures minutes are accessible to all attendees. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI supports a wide range of meeting types, including team meetings, board meetings, leadership meetings, and more. It offers templates and features tailored to various meeting formats. (source)
You can get started with Spinach AI by signing up with your Google or Microsoft account, connecting your calendar, and accessing templates and features immediately. No complex IT setup is required. (source)
Spinach AI offers free access to its library of meeting agenda templates and some features. For advanced capabilities, you may need to explore paid plans. (source)
Spinach AI integrates with popular tools such as Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Jira, and Salesforce, allowing you to run meetings, capture notes, and automate tasks within your existing workflow. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI automatically captures action items during meetings and assigns them to the appropriate team members, ensuring accountability and follow-through. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI provides an onboarding program for premium users to ensure a smooth transition and help teams fully utilize the platform's features. (source)
Spinach AI offers automated note-taking, action item tracking, workflow optimization, AI-powered insights, seamless integrations with tools like Zoom and Jira, and tailored solutions for different roles such as product managers, sales, engineering, and more. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI automatically captures meeting notes, action items, and outcomes, allowing users to focus on discussions without manual note-taking. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI provides a library of over 100 meeting agenda templates that can be customized for different meeting types and teams. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI analyzes user feedback to uncover trends, pain points, and opportunities, enabling data-driven decision-making for teams. (source)
Spinach AI integrates with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Jira, Salesforce, and other popular tools to streamline workflows and enhance collaboration. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI offers a Transcript & AI Summary API, available as an add-on for some plans and included in the Enterprise plan. This API enables advanced transcript and summary generation. (source)
Spinach AI automates tasks such as generating sprint plans, PRDs, and managing tickets, reducing administrative burdens and improving workflow efficiency for teams. (source)
Spinach AI is SOC 2 Type 2 certified (verified by EY), demonstrating its commitment to security, reliability, data integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI adheres to GDPR, ensuring secure and compliant handling of user data according to European data protection regulations. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI is HIPAA compliant, signs Business Associate Agreements (BAAs), and rigorously protects Protected Health Information (PHI). (source)
Spinach AI uses TLS and AES-256 encryption for data in transit and at rest, does not use user data for training, and offers additional security features such as SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning, admin controls, and custom data retention policies. (source)
Spinach AI is designed for product managers, engineering teams, project managers, marketing, HR, customer success, sales, finance, and more—anyone looking to automate meeting documentation and streamline workflows. (source)
Spinach AI solves problems such as manual note-taking, administrative overload, workflow inefficiency, extracting insights from user feedback, and maintaining team alignment. (source)
Spinach AI offers tailored solutions: sales teams get CRM integrations and buyer insights, product managers get PRD generation and user feedback analysis, engineering teams get sprint planning automation, and customer success teams get onboarding and follow-up automation. (source)
Customers can expect increased productivity, streamlined workflows, enhanced collaboration, data-driven decision-making, customizable solutions for different teams, and improved customer engagement. (source)
Yes, customers like Ron Meyer (Infinite Ranges), Sergio (AlfaDocs), Matt Filion (Authvia), and others have shared how Spinach AI improved their sales cycles, customer engagement, workflow efficiency, and team communication. (source)
Industries using Spinach AI include sales, customer success, technology, revenue operations, consulting, and healthcare technology. (source)
Spinach AI can be implemented almost instantly—sign up, connect your calendar, and start using the platform immediately. No complex IT involvement is required. (source)
Customers consistently highlight Spinach AI's ease of use, natural workflow integration, and productivity benefits. For example, Dan Robidoux (Careviso) and Belén Medina (Do It Consulting Group) praised its intuitive design and positive impact on team communication. (source)
Spinach AI stands out by offering tailored features for different roles, advanced AI-powered insights, seamless integrations, and customizable solutions. Customers like Jason Oliver (Product Director) note its unmatched specificity for product management compared to generic tools. (source)
Spinach AI offers role-specific features, enhanced productivity through automation, advanced AI insights, and seamless integration with popular tools. Its ability to address unique pain points for different teams makes it a superior choice for many organizations. (source)
Spinach AI is unique for its tailored solutions by persona, advanced AI-powered insights, seamless integrations, and focus on automating both meeting documentation and workflow tasks. (source)
Spinach AI is cloud-based and requires only a web browser and a Google or Microsoft account for sign-up. It integrates with your calendar and other tools without complex IT setup. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI offers customer support and a help center to assist users with onboarding, troubleshooting, and maximizing the platform's value. (source)
Spinach.ai is enterprise-ready, offering robust security and compliance with SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and HIPAA certifications. The Enterprise plan provides advanced features essential for large organizations, including SAML SSO, custom data retention, a dedicated API, compliance monitoring, and a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
Meeting minutes are concise notes that summarize the discussions, decisions, and action items from a meeting. They serve as an official record that attendees can refer back to for clarification and accountability. The term "minutes" comes from the Latin "minuta scriptura," meaning small notes, not the measurement of time. (source)
Meeting minutes are important because they provide accountability, ensure alignment among team members, and serve as a reference for decisions and next steps. Without written minutes, it's easy to forget commitments or misinterpret responsibilities, leading to confusion and reduced productivity. (source)
Effective meeting minutes should include the meeting date, list of attendees, the meeting's purpose, agenda items discussed, relevant documents or links, and clear next steps with assigned responsibilities and deadlines. (source)
It's best to designate a specific person to take meeting minutes—ideally someone who is not running the meeting. Rotating the note-taker role among team members can help ensure inclusivity and engagement. (source)
To ensure everyone can access meeting minutes, use a collaborative tool like Spinach AI, Google Docs, or OneNote. Sharing minutes in a central, accessible location fosters accountability and encourages follow-through. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI offers a library of over 100 meeting agenda and minutes templates, including templates for team meetings, board meetings, and leadership meetings. These templates can be used directly in Spinach AI or downloaded in Word, Excel, or PDF formats. (source)
Best practices include documenting the basics (date, attendees, purpose), taking minutes during the meeting, using a clear agenda, summarizing key points instead of writing verbatim, asking for clarification when needed, assigning next steps, and making the minutes easily accessible. (source)
Meeting minutes improve accountability by clearly documenting decisions, action items, and who is responsible for each task. This written record helps prevent misunderstandings and ensures follow-through on commitments. (source)
Meeting minutes help with alignment by providing a single source of truth for what was discussed and decided. This reduces miscommunication and ensures everyone is clear on next steps and responsibilities. (source)
You can use collaborative tools like Spinach AI, Google Docs, OneNote, or dedicated meeting minute software to take and share meeting minutes efficiently. Spinach AI is designed to automate and streamline this process. (source)
Focus on summarizing key points, decisions, and action items rather than writing everything verbatim. Use a structured template and ask for clarification during the meeting if needed. (source)
Spinach AI automates the process of taking meeting minutes by capturing notes, action items, and outcomes in real time. It integrates with your agenda, making it easy to document discussions and assign next steps, and ensures minutes are accessible to all attendees. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI supports a wide range of meeting types, including team meetings, board meetings, leadership meetings, and more. It offers templates and features tailored to various meeting formats. (source)
You can get started with Spinach AI by signing up with your Google or Microsoft account, connecting your calendar, and accessing templates and features immediately. No complex IT setup is required. (source)
Spinach AI offers free access to its library of meeting agenda templates and some features. For advanced capabilities, you may need to explore paid plans. (source)
Spinach AI integrates with popular tools such as Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Jira, and Salesforce, allowing you to run meetings, capture notes, and automate tasks within your existing workflow. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI automatically captures action items during meetings and assigns them to the appropriate team members, ensuring accountability and follow-through. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI provides an onboarding program for premium users to ensure a smooth transition and help teams fully utilize the platform's features. (source)
Spinach AI offers automated note-taking, action item tracking, workflow optimization, AI-powered insights, seamless integrations with tools like Zoom and Jira, and tailored solutions for different roles such as product managers, sales, engineering, and more. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI automatically captures meeting notes, action items, and outcomes, allowing users to focus on discussions without manual note-taking. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI provides a library of over 100 meeting agenda templates that can be customized for different meeting types and teams. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI analyzes user feedback to uncover trends, pain points, and opportunities, enabling data-driven decision-making for teams. (source)
Spinach AI integrates with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Jira, Salesforce, and other popular tools to streamline workflows and enhance collaboration. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI offers a Transcript & AI Summary API, available as an add-on for some plans and included in the Enterprise plan. This API enables advanced transcript and summary generation. (source)
Spinach AI automates tasks such as generating sprint plans, PRDs, and managing tickets, reducing administrative burdens and improving workflow efficiency for teams. (source)
Spinach AI is SOC 2 Type 2 certified (verified by EY), demonstrating its commitment to security, reliability, data integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI adheres to GDPR, ensuring secure and compliant handling of user data according to European data protection regulations. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI is HIPAA compliant, signs Business Associate Agreements (BAAs), and rigorously protects Protected Health Information (PHI). (source)
Spinach AI uses TLS and AES-256 encryption for data in transit and at rest, does not use user data for training, and offers additional security features such as SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning, admin controls, and custom data retention policies. (source)
Spinach AI is designed for product managers, engineering teams, project managers, marketing, HR, customer success, sales, finance, and more—anyone looking to automate meeting documentation and streamline workflows. (source)
Spinach AI solves problems such as manual note-taking, administrative overload, workflow inefficiency, extracting insights from user feedback, and maintaining team alignment. (source)
Spinach AI offers tailored solutions: sales teams get CRM integrations and buyer insights, product managers get PRD generation and user feedback analysis, engineering teams get sprint planning automation, and customer success teams get onboarding and follow-up automation. (source)
Customers can expect increased productivity, streamlined workflows, enhanced collaboration, data-driven decision-making, customizable solutions for different teams, and improved customer engagement. (source)
Yes, customers like Ron Meyer (Infinite Ranges), Sergio (AlfaDocs), Matt Filion (Authvia), and others have shared how Spinach AI improved their sales cycles, customer engagement, workflow efficiency, and team communication. (source)
Industries using Spinach AI include sales, customer success, technology, revenue operations, consulting, and healthcare technology. (source)
Spinach AI can be implemented almost instantly—sign up, connect your calendar, and start using the platform immediately. No complex IT involvement is required. (source)
Customers consistently highlight Spinach AI's ease of use, natural workflow integration, and productivity benefits. For example, Dan Robidoux (Careviso) and Belén Medina (Do It Consulting Group) praised its intuitive design and positive impact on team communication. (source)
Spinach AI stands out by offering tailored features for different roles, advanced AI-powered insights, seamless integrations, and customizable solutions. Customers like Jason Oliver (Product Director) note its unmatched specificity for product management compared to generic tools. (source)
Spinach AI offers role-specific features, enhanced productivity through automation, advanced AI insights, and seamless integration with popular tools. Its ability to address unique pain points for different teams makes it a superior choice for many organizations. (source)
Spinach AI is unique for its tailored solutions by persona, advanced AI-powered insights, seamless integrations, and focus on automating both meeting documentation and workflow tasks. (source)
Spinach AI is cloud-based and requires only a web browser and a Google or Microsoft account for sign-up. It integrates with your calendar and other tools without complex IT setup. (source)
Yes, Spinach AI offers customer support and a help center to assist users with onboarding, troubleshooting, and maximizing the platform's value. (source)
Spinach.ai is enterprise-ready, offering robust security and compliance with SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and HIPAA certifications. The Enterprise plan provides advanced features essential for large organizations, including SAML SSO, custom data retention, a dedicated API, compliance monitoring, and a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
This article reviews everything you need to know about taking effective and efficient minutes for your next meeting.
Nicole Kahansky
Taking meeting minutes is the practice of documenting what happened in a meeting.
It’s an essential step to ensure meetings are productive and actionable. After all, if you have a meeting with no written trace, it’ll be hard to hold anyone accountable, or even remember what was discussed.
But, there are a number of things to keep in mind to ensure your meeting minutes are effective. We’ve got you covered! In this article we’ll walk through:
You’ll be a pro at taking meeting minutes in no time!
Meeting minutes are concise notes that summarize discussions from your meeting. They’re a record you can refer back to for clarification on what happened in the meeting.
But, they shouldn’t be a record of everything that happened. The phrase “meeting minutes” actually doesn’t have anything to do with 60 seconds. Rather, the phrase dates back to the early 18th century to the Latin words “minuta scriptura,” which means small notes.
The are a number of purposes meeting minutes serve that make them an important part of every meeting. Since meeting minutes are typically a more formal documentation of meetings, they’re especially used when an official record of the discussion is needed, for example in board meetings and leadership meetings.
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, if a meeting happened but there are no notes, did it really happen? 🤔
This might sound silly. But the fact of the matter is that people are forgetful. Your team likely isn’t trying to pass the buck on commitments made, but if you don’t write it down, it’s pretty easy to forget.
The entire purpose of a meeting is to get the right people in a room to collectively solve a problem. Documenting the solution, whether through meeting notes or meeting minutes, will ensure that the whole team stay accountable — so your discussion gets turned into action.
Miscommunication is a great way to cause frustration, resentment and loss of productivity.
We all have different communication styles, and if you’re not intentional about how you communicate, this can cause misunderstandings galore.
Taking meeting minutes gives you the opportunity to ensure clarity on what’s discussed. For example, let’s say someone needs to create templates for customer onboarding. You think your colleague agreed to do it, but their understanding is that you’re taking the lead. Without minutes, you both leave with a different perspective on what’s supposed to happen next.
Since meeting minutes force you to write down what was decided, this misalignment will be caught before it leads to frustration. So you both leave crystal clear on what’s next.
“Hmm…what was it that Kathleen said last week about the marketing plan?”
If you’ve clearly labelled your notes with the right details, it will be quick and easy to answer this question! For every meeting, make sure to cover off the very basics in the minutes.
If everyone’s taking minutes at the same time, things will get confusing quickly.
Decide from the outset who will take the notes.
Elect someone who isn’t running the meeting to take clear, concise notes throughout. That way, everyone else can focus on making decisions and assigning next steps.
It’s not particularly inclusive to pick the same person to take minutes each time. Consider rotating the notes taker each meeting.
Once you’ve assigned someone responsible for the minutes, ensure they’re taking minutes throughout the meeting – not making rough scribbles they’ll turn into proper meeting minutes afterward.
The trick here is to find the right tool. For example, if using paper and pen, you’ll need to re-write the notes after so they’re shareable. Instead, choose a device that will make note-taking easy (like a laptop or iPad) and remove a step.
Taking minutes during the meeting also ensures you get everyone’s buy-in on key decisions and next steps. After each agenda item, the note-taker can say, “OK, here’s what I’ve written for the summary. Did I miss anything?” This way, everyone is consistently engaged in the conversation and stays aligned.
The first step of taking minutes in the agenda is actually having a clear agenda.
This will help guide your minutes and streamline everything in one place. Ideally, your agenda is collaborative (whether it be in a meeting agenda tool like Spinach AI or a shared doc like One Note or Google Docs), so while you’re taking notes everyone can follow along — particularly helpful for remote meetings!
You don’t need to capture everything in your meeting minutes. Think of it as Cole’s Notes. If someone couldn’t make it, what are the key points they need to know?
Focus on the essentials: For each agenda item include a summary of what you discussed, any decisions made, and what the next steps are.
Not only will this make your typing fingers less tired, but it will also make the final product easier to understand.
The note-taker should always feel comfortable (and encouraged!) to ask for clarification or repetition when needed. Trying to remember what was discussed later can result in misinformation or missing pieces.
If you’re leading the meeting, don’t hesitate to reiterate key points or crucial decisions. Not only will it help ensure accurate documentation – it repeats key information for the whole team to hear (win-win!).
You went through everything on the agenda? Great! You summarized all your decisions? Great!
…but, who is doing what? 😮
For a meeting to be truly effective, you need to break down your decisions into action items. And don’t leave actions to nameless people, either – they won’t get done! Encourage ownership and responsibility by assigning the actions to attendees – ideally with deadlines attached to them.
Possibly the most important part of writing minutes is actually making sure everyone has access to the minutes.
Whether you’re sharing a Google doc, or you’re using meeting minute software that everyone can access (we prefer the latter! 😏), it’s crucial that everyone can refer back to notes and next steps whenever they need. It helps to foster a culture of accountability, and encourages follow-through across the team.
As we mentioned earlier, the template for your minutes should be your agenda! Ensure each agenda item has space for notes and next steps, and that it’s easily accessible by all the attendees. Below you can find a few examples, based on agenda templates, that you can use in the Spinach AI app or download as a Word, Excel or PDF.
👉 Use the full team meeting template in Spinach AI or download (Word, Excel, PDF)
👉 Use this full board meeting template in Spinach AI or download (Word, Excel, PDF)
👉 Use this full level 10 meeting template in Spinach AI or download (Word, Excel, PDF)
Take meeting minutes more effortlessly by starting with a template from our library of over 100 types of meetings. ✨
Next, here are some things you can do now that you've read this article:
helps managers run better
Meetings edit_calendar
,
hit their
Goals flag
,
and share better
Performance feedback insights
, faster.