Good meeting minutes are not a transcript. Nobody re-reads a wall of who said what, and writing one during the meeting means you are typing instead of listening. Minutes exist to answer three questions later: what did we decide, who owns what, and when is it due. This template puts those first and keeps the discussion notes brief and underneath. The header is filled in before the meeting so that once it starts you are only capturing outcomes, and the action items sit in their own table with an owner and a date against each one, so they can be read back at the end and reopened at the top of the next meeting. For boards, committees and any meeting where the minutes are the formal record.
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Meeting Agenda
Meeting details
Date, time, location
Meeting type and purpose
Attendance
Present
Apologies / regrets
Note-taker and chair
Approval of previous minutes
Agenda item 1
Decision:
Action items arising:
Agenda item 2
Decision:
Action items arising:
Agenda item 3
Decision:
Action items arising:
Motions and votes (boards, committees and formal meetings)
Motion wording · moved by · seconded by · result
Summary of all action items
Next meeting
Meeting Purpose
Record what was decided, who is doing what by when, and enough context that someone who missed the meeting can catch up without asking. Fill in the header before the meeting starts so that once it does, you are only capturing outcomes.
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Learn more about how to implement this template in your meetings and further improve your productivity with this article.
All of the Knowtworthy templates are free to use and modify! We have a variety of templates available, all accessible directly in the Knowtworthy application or downloadable!
Step 1: Open the Template
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Step 2: Make Changes
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Step 3: Run Amazing Meetings!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to your questions about our free meeting minute templates!
A meeting template is a structured document for a particular kind of meeting that acts as a jumping-off point for any particular meeting. In a good meeting template, you’ll find space to list all of the important meeting details, such as when the meeting is occurring, what the meeting is about, and more. You’ll also have a dedicated space for your agenda items (the topics you will cover during the meeting) your meeting minutes (the notes you’ll take about each topic) and your action items (the tasks or next steps that come out of a meeting). This template will serve as your guide during the meeting, ensuring that you cover everything that needs to be discussed, and leave with a complete list of tasks and next steps.
Knowtworthy meeting templates are custom templates built with a specific meeting in mind. Every kind of meeting is different, but running great meetings can is straightforward if you follow the best practices. These templates help you stay on top of all of your meetings by giving you a great jumping-off point for your next meeting and ensuring that you can effortlessly follow best-practices by providing all of the structure you need. For example, our meeting minutes templates come with space for your meeting agenda, your meeting notes and minutes, and your meeting action items — the three pillars of a successful meeting. You will also have access to dozens of other best-practices and features with Knowtworthy templates with spaces for the meeting’s purpose, attendee list, real-time sharing and more!
Templates custom built by Knowtworthy are accessible through four different methods. You can download a copy of the template for your own use with the Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) or Microsoft Word (.docx) file format. You can also open up a copy of the template through Google Docs, directly through the template page. However, the primary way to access and edit the templates for free is through the editable Knowtworthy template which opens up a copy for you to edit and share with your team easily.
Our meetings templates are designed to give you a great starting point for any kind of meeting you may have. All of the templates are completely editable and though you’ll have the structure you need to get started running great meetings, you can always add additional agenda items and details, or remove items you feel aren’t necessary. We recommend that you open up your free template before the meeting begins to familiarize yourself with the content, make any necessary changes (even simple things such as editing the meeting time and date) and share the template with the other meeting attendees, to ensure that everyone is on the same page and can get started quickly.
The Microsoft Excel template for this meeting is free to download and completely customizable. Knowtworthy meeting templates provide you with a good starting point for your meetings, so once you download the template by clicking the Excel Download Button, you’ll be able to review the template content and make any changes right away. The Excel template comes with a space for the meeting title, meeting time and place, meeting purpose, and meeting agenda. The meeting agenda is split into sections allowing you to set how long you think a certain agenda item will take to complete, the topic of the discussion, and the members of the meeting leading that discussion. Once you’ve made your edits to the template, you can send it to the other meeting attendees and take minutes during the meeting itself for your record keeping.
The Microsoft Word template for this meeting is free to download and completely customizable. Knowtworthy meeting templates provide you with a good starting point for your meetings, so once you download the template by clicking the Word Download Button, you’ll be able to review the template content and make any changes right away. The Word template comes with a space for the meeting type, meeting title, meeting time and place, meeting purpose, and meeting agenda. The meeting agenda is split into sections allowing you to set how long you think a certain agenda item will take to complete, the topic of the discussion, and the members of the meeting leading that discussion. Once you’ve made your edits to the template, you can send it to the other meeting attendees and take minutes during the meeting itself for your record keeping under each agenda item.
The Google Docs template for this meeting is free to download and completely customizable. Knowtworthy meeting templates provide you with a good starting point for your meetings, so once you download the template by clicking the Google Docs Button, you’ll be able to review the template content and make a copy to your Google account immediately. The Google Docs template comes with a space for the meeting type, meeting title, meeting time and place, meeting purpose, and meeting agenda. The meeting agenda is split into sections allowing you to set how long you think a certain agenda item will take to complete, the topic of the discussion, and the members of the meeting leading that discussion. Once you’ve made your edits to the template, you can send it to the other meeting attendees and take minutes during the meeting itself for your record keeping under each agenda item.
Knowtworthy provides meeting templates for every kind of major meeting type. We have four main categories of meeting types: Featured meetings, Common meetings, Agile meetings, and Formal meetings. We have many templates for each of these meeting types with examples such as Weekly Team meetings, Growth One-on-One meetings, Retrospective meetings, Project Management meetings, governance meetings, all-hands meetings, daily standup meetings, and more. All of these meeting templates come packed with meeting best practices, most notable a space to put a custom agenda to keep your meeting on track.
Running great meetings is crucial for any successful business enterprise but it doesn’t have to be challenging! Using a meeting template for your agenda is a great way to ensure you are following meeting best-practices following research-based methods for ensuring meeting productivity. Using a template is a great way to get the conversation started for a meeting, and ensures that you aren’t forgetting any important points. Plus, you have the opportunity to modify any template you choose to include all of the information you feel will be relevant to your particular meeting.
A good meeting agenda consists of a few key sections and should follow a few key guidelines. First, a meeting agenda should be specific about the discussion topics that must be covered during a particular meeting. Next, for each of the topics, a time estimate of how long the discussion will take can make sure that you stay on track during the meeting and don’t go over-time. Finally, each agenda item should note who at the meeting will lead the discussion for that item so that attendees can take ownership over preparing for their portion of the discussion during a meeting. Now that you have a great meeting agenda written, you must make sure to follow best-practices such as sharing the agenda well before the meeting happens with the other attendees, and accommodate any changes or feedback that attendees provide. Following these steps will help ensure all of your meetings run smoothly with great agendas!
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