How to write meeting minutes fast - a one-line-per-point method

Most people dread taking minutes because they try to write a transcript. They fall behind in the first five minutes, spend the meeting typing instead of listening, and then spend another half hour afterwards turning a wall of text into something readable.

Good minutes are not a record of what was said. They are a record of what was decided, who will do what, and what is still open. That is a much smaller job.

The method: one line per point

Write one short line for each thing that matters, starting with a word that says what kind of line it is:

• Decision: “Decided: launch moves to 12 Nov.”
• Action: “Sam: send revised budget by Fri.”
• Question: “? Do we need legal review for the new terms?”
• Note: anything else worth keeping, as plain text.

Skip everything else. Discussion that led to a decision does not need recording, only the decision.

Why it is fast

• You never write paragraphs. Each line is a few words.
• Sorting is built in. The first word tells you where the line belongs.
• Actions have owners from the start, so no one has to work out “who said they would do that?” afterwards.

After the meeting: two minutes

1. Group lines by type: decisions, actions, questions, notes.
2. Check every action has an owner and a date.
3. Send it within the hour, while it is fresh.

A useful order for the email: decisions first, actions with owners and dates second, open questions third, notes last. See sending minutes people read for how to format them so people actually read them.

Tips for the person taking minutes

• Ask for clarity in the room. “So the decision is to move the launch to the 12th?” saves a correction email later.
• Name the owner out loud when an action is agreed. “Sam, that’s yours by Friday?”
• Write the date as said, then convert later if needed.
• Do not minute side conversations.

Templates help a little

A simple template with four headings (Decisions, Actions, Questions, Notes) works for any meeting. The UK Government’s guidance on writing for GOV.UK is about web content, but its advice on short sentences and plain words applies just as well to minutes.

Where Jot fits

Jot’s Meeting tab, in the next release, is built around exactly this method. You type one line per point in the capture box during the meeting, and Jot sorts each line into decisions, actions for named people, notes and open questions as you go. Your own actions become todos; other people’s actions keep a checkbox you can tick in later meetings. A small pill stays on screen while the meeting runs, and when you finish, the minutes are ready to copy into a reply. See minutes nobody has to tidy and parsing a meeting line.

Until then, the method works in any text editor.

Jot is on the Microsoft Store.

Jot is a quick-capture app for Windows: one hotkey, one line, back to what you were doing. What it is, or what is still unproven.