The Meeting Notes Nobody Reads
You spend an hour in a meeting.
You diligently take notes.
You send them to the team.
And nobody ever looks at them again.
Because they're 3 pages of transcription that don't answer the only questions that matter:
- What did we decide?
- Who's doing what?
- What happens next?
What's Wrong With Most Meeting Notes
They're Just Transcripts
❌ "John said we should consider the new vendor. Sarah mentioned that pricing is a concern. Mike asked about the timeline. Jennifer shared her experience with a similar project..."
Nobody cares who said what.
They care what was DECIDED.
They Bury the Important Stuff
What people need:
- Decisions
- Action items
- Next steps
What your notes include:
- 15 minutes of small talk
- 20 minutes of background discussion
- 5 minutes of off-topic tangents
The important stuff is hidden in paragraph 6.
They Have No Clear Owners or Deadlines
❌ "We need to follow up on the vendor proposal"
Questions this raises:
- Who's following up?
- When?
- With whom?
- What specifically needs to happen?
Vague notes = nothing gets done.
The Format That Actually Works
The 3-Section Meeting Notes
- Decisions Made
- Action Items (Who, What, When)
- Parking Lot (Things to discuss later)
Optional: Key discussion points (brief summaries only)
That's it. Keep it under 1 page.
Section 1: Decisions Made
List what was decided, not what was discussed.
✅ Decided: Go with Vendor A
- Reason: 20% cheaper and better customer support
- Start date: March 1
✅ Decided: Postpone feature X until Q3
- Reason: Engineering capacity focused on Y
- Revisit in May planning
❌ "We had a long discussion about vendors and talked through various options..."
Section 2: Action Items
Every action item needs:
- WHO is responsible
- WHAT they're doing
- WHEN it's due
Format: [Name] will [action] by [date]
✅ Sarah will send proposal to client by Friday EOD
✅ Mike will schedule follow-up meeting for next week
✅ Jordan will research pricing options and share by Tuesday
❌ "Someone should follow up on this" ❌ "We need to get back to them soon"
Section 3: Parking Lot
Things that came up but aren't immediate priorities:
✅ Parking lot:
- Consider mobile app redesign (discuss in Q3 planning)
- Explore integration with Tool X (John will investigate when bandwidth allows)
- Budget review for 2026 (schedule separate meeting in Nov)
Why this matters: Captures ideas without derailing current focus.
Real Example: Before and After
❌ BAD MEETING NOTES
Meeting Notes - Project X Planning
We had a great discussion today about the upcoming launch of Project X. John started by giving an overview of where we are. Sarah mentioned that the design team is making good progress. We talked about the timeline and whether March 1 is realistic. Mike brought up concerns about the API integration. Jennifer shared some thoughts about the marketing strategy. We discussed various approaches to the launch. There were some questions about budget. Overall, good meeting with lots of ideas. We'll meet again next week to continue the discussion.
What's wrong:
- No decisions listed
- No action items
- No clear next steps
- Vague "good meeting" assessment
- Impossible to reference later
✅ GOOD MEETING NOTES
Project X Planning - Jan 15, 2025
Decisions: • Launch date: March 1 (confirmed) • Will NOT include mobile app in v1 (move to v2) • Marketing budget: $15K approved
Action Items: • Sarah: Finalize designs by Jan 22 • Mike: Complete API integration testing by Jan 29 • Jennifer: Submit marketing plan by Jan 19 • John: Schedule pre-launch review for Feb 15
Parking Lot: • Mobile app v2 (discuss in Q2) • Additional languages (revisit after launch data)
Next meeting: Jan 22, 2pm
What's right:
- Scannable
- Clear decisions
- Specific action items with owners and dates
- Clear next steps
- Under 1 page
Advanced Meeting Notes Techniques
Use @ Mentions for Action Items
If sending via Slack or tools that support mentions:
• @sarah will finalize designs by Jan 22
This notifies them directly and creates accountability.
Include "Not Decided" Explicitly
If something was discussed but no decision made:
✅ Not decided yet:
- Whether to include feature Z (need more user research first)
- Final pricing tier (waiting on competitive analysis)
Why: Prevents people thinking you forgot to document a decision.
Link to Relevant Documents
Don't paste entire documents. Link to them:
✅ Design mockups: [link] ✅ Budget spreadsheet: [link] ✅ Previous meeting notes: [link]
Time-Box Your Note Taking
Don't spend an hour writing notes for a 30-minute meeting.
Goal: Notes should take 10 minutes to clean up and send.
If it's taking longer, you're transcribing instead of summarizing.
When to Take Different Types of Notes
Quick Sync (15-30 min)
Format:
Quick Decisions: • [Decision 1] • [Decision 2]
Action items: • [Who] → [What] by [When]
Under 5 sentences total.
Strategic Planning (1-2 hours)
More detail needed:
Decisions Made: [Detailed decisions with reasoning]
Key Discussion Points: [Brief summaries of important context]
Action Items: [Detailed breakdown]
Next Steps: [Clear path forward]
Can be 1-2 pages, but still structured.
Recurring Team Sync
Template that repeats weekly:
Team Sync - [Date]
Shipped this week: • [Accomplishments]
Blockers: • [Issues and who's addressing]
Next week priorities: • [What's coming]
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1: Waiting Too Long to Send Notes
Send within 2 hours while memory is fresh.
❌ Waiting until end of day or next day ✅ Send immediately after meeting
Mistake #2: Too Much Detail
You're not a court reporter.
❌ Verbatim transcription ✅ Summary of outcomes
Mistake #3: No Follow-Up
Notes are useless if action items aren't tracked.
One week later: Check in on action items in next meeting.
Tools That Help
Simple Text Notes (Most Flexible)
- Google Docs
- Notion
- Obsidian
Pro: Works everywhere Con: No automatic reminders
Project Management Tools
- Asana
- Linear
- Jira
- Trello
Pro: Creates trackable tasks automatically Con: Requires team to use same tool
AI Note-Takers
- Otter.ai
- Fireflies.ai
- Meeting transcription tools
Pro: Captures everything automatically Con: Still needs human to extract decisions/actions
Best practice: Use AI to transcribe, human to summarize decisions.
The 4 Tests for Meeting Notes
1. SIGNAL: Can someone who missed the meeting understand what happened?
Decisions clear? Actions clear?
2. OPPORTUNITY: Are action items specific with owners and dates?
Or are they vague "someone should" statements?
3. RISK: Is anything missing that people will ask about later?
Have you captured the key decisions?
4. AFFECT: Would I want to read these notes?
Scannable? Under 1 page? Or wall of text?
Quick Checklist for Good Meeting Notes
- Decisions listed clearly
- Every action item has owner + deadline
- Sent within 2 hours of meeting
- Under 1 page (unless strategic planning)
- Scannable format (bullets, not paragraphs)
- Parking lot for deferred topics
- Next meeting date/time (if applicable)
Check Your Meeting Notes
Not sure if your notes are clear and actionable?
Analyze them free with 4Angles →
Paste your notes. See how they score on:
- SIGNAL (Are decisions and actions clear?)
- OPPORTUNITY (Are they useful and actionable?)
- RISK (Is anything important missing?)
- AFFECT (Are they easy to read?)
No signup required. Just instant analysis.
Related Reading
- Why Everyone Ignores Your Meeting Requests
- Why Nobody Reads Your Status Updates
- Is My Slack Message Too Long?
About 4Angles: We analyze your writing from 4 psychological perspectives (Signal, Opportunity, Risk, Affect) to help you communicate with confidence. Free analysis available at 4angles.com.
Last Updated: 2025-10-28