How do I write a report of a meeting? Writing and Model

At work, meetings are a must. Who doesn't have a meeting at least once a week, or even once a day? So often they can be time-consuming and counterproductive, meetings remain an essential communication and collaboration tool that allows you to inform, exchange and decide at the same time.

For meetings to remain an indispensable communication and collaboration tool that allows both to inform, to exchange and to decide, they must be short and well prepared.

The meeting minutes is therefore an essential document, because it will allow you to frame the meetings, but also to then transmit the content of the exchanges with all your collaborators and partners. In this article, find out how to write an effective meeting report.

What is the point of a meeting report?

You have just finished an effective meeting where problems were resolved and everyone came out with a list of tasks to be completed to continue moving the project forward. It is perfect.

Now, get down to writing a meeting report, an essential document that allows you to write down everything that was said orally.

Here are the various purposes of a meeting report:

• accurately summarize the exchanges;
• formalize the decisions taken and the responsibilities of each person;
• set specific goals;
• keep track of discussions;
• inform participants as well as absentees;
• prepare for future meetings on the same subject.

The meeting minutes are for information only. It must accurately retrace the progress of the meeting and the various decisions that were taken without additions or omissions. Attention, this is not a transcript of the dialogues, but a summary of the ideas and decisions taken. It will be kept in the archives.

It should be objective and impersonal, write in a neutral tone and contain no opinions or comments. Finally, it should be clear, precise, concise, and structured, and the essential elements should be visible at a glance.

The meeting minutes make it possible to accurately summarize the exchanges, formalize the decisions taken and the responsibilities of each person, but also to set specific objectives. By keeping track of discussions, you can inform participants as well as absentees and prepare for future meetings on the same topic.

7 steps to write a meeting report

Do you want to write a good meeting report? Follow these 7 steps.

1. Take notes of the meeting

Obviously, to write an accurate and accurate report, it is essential to take notes during the meeting. To simplify your task and make sure you don't miss anything, you can record the meeting with your phone (there are apps for that) or a dictaphone.

This does not exempt you from taking notes at the same time. For more speed, take notes directly on your computer.

2. The sooner the better

Ideally, you should write the minutes immediately after the meeting is over, while you still remember everything that was said. If you are in doubt, do not hesitate to ask one of the participants for help.

3. Create a standard template

For more efficiency, you can also create a report template that you will use at each meeting. This will make it easier to take notes, you will save time writing and participants will be used to the minutes format, especially if it is a regular meeting.

Pre-fill your frame in advance with information you already know, such as the date and location of the meeting, the date and location of the meeting, the agenda, the participants, etc. During the meeting, enter your notes directly into your frame.

4. Mandatory information

In your meeting minutes, some essential information should appear like:

• the name of the company;
• the date and location of the meeting;
• the list of participants and their respective functions, as well as those absent and excused;
• the agenda;
• the various topics covered;
• decisions made, everyone's responsibilities, and key information discussed during the meeting (such as tasks in progress and completed tasks);
• the identity of the writer (s);
• the date of the next meeting.

5. Structure your report

A good report should be easy to read. Readers need to easily find the information they need.

Ideally, it should be divided into three parts:

• an introduction: indicate the purpose and outline of the meeting;
• development: go over the various items on the agenda one by one. Feel free to use sections, paragraphs, bullets, etc.
• a conclusion: specify the decisions that have been taken, the new actions to be carried out, their manager (s) and their deadline as well as the date of the next meeting.

6. Reread yourself

Is your report over? Do not neglect the proofreading phase, which is essential in order not to forget anything and to ensure that your report is consistent. Do not hesitate to have your document reviewed by one or more participants before sending it in order to avoid misunderstandings or omissions.

Also, make sure it's written in correct French, with no spelling mistakes.

7. Send the report quickly

It is preferable to distribute your report to all the persons concerned as soon as possible, i.e. 2 or 3 days maximum after the meeting. It is obvious that participants should receive it before the next meeting.

Send it to everyone invited to the meeting, including those who were absent and excused, so they can be notified of what they missed and what tasks they may have been assigned.

Bonus >> Download your free meeting minutes template(doc, odt and google docs formats)

Finally, the report must be available and searchable easily and at any time. For that, share it on your collaborative platform. On your project management software (Wimi if everything is fine;)), all your documents and meeting minutes are centralized and accessible to all the people concerned.

What are the main types of meeting minutes?

Depending on the objectives of your meeting, however, you should use a type of minutes adapted to your needs. To do this, it is necessary to know the three main types that are most used.

The summary report

This document summarizes the exchanges between the various participants as well as the decisions that were taken during the meeting. It's simple, short, effective, and focuses only on the essentials of the meeting.

Meeting minutes

Much more comprehensive than the previous style, it accurately details all discussions and comments, but also the decisions made, the actions to be implemented and sometimes the milestones to reach the goals.

The reception report

The latter type should only be used in the context of project management when it is necessary to attest to the conformity of the deliverables. For example, this report includes the characteristics of these deliverables as well as compliance with the initial requirements of the project.

Best practices for writing your report well

For greater efficiency, you can create a report template that you can use at each meeting. This will make it easier to take notes, you will save time writing and participants will be used to the minutes format, especially if it is a regular meeting.

Pre-fill your frame in advance with information you already know, such as the date and location of the meeting, the agenda, the participants, etc. During the meeting, enter your notes directly into your frame.

In your meeting minutes, some essential information should appear like:

• The name of the company;
• The date and location of the meeting;
• The list of participants and their respective functions, as well as those absent and excused;
• The agenda and the various topics covered;
• Decisions made, everyone's responsibilities, and key information discussed during the meeting (such as tasks in progress and completed tasks);
• The identity of the editor (s);
• The date of the next meeting.

What tools are there to write a good meeting report?

Reporting requires the use of a number of tools. A platform like Wimi offers you the opportunity to write your resume with a complete suite. In particular, word processing software can be used to take notes and format the minutes, while the spreadsheet tool is essential for monitoring actions relating to decisions taken during the meeting.

Note that the collaborative dimension of Wimi with the functionalities of co-editing and adding comments on shared documents is a good way to write or review the report collaboratively before sending the final version.

If you are not 100% comfortable with spelling, do not hesitate to exploit the potential of spell checkers such as Grammarly or Antidote in order not to let any typos pass.

Download our meeting minutes template

To help you write your report, we offer you a meeting minutes template. All you have to do is complete it or be inspired by it to create your own document template.

The report should be easily available and searchable at any time. For that, share it on your collaborative platform. On your project management software, all your documents and meeting minutes are centralized and accessible to everyone concerned.

You now have all the keys in hand to write accurate meeting minutes. It's up to you to play!

You now have all the keys in hand to write accurate meeting minutes. It's up to you to play!