In many small companies minutes fall into two groups: those nobody writes, and those nobody reads. The first group leads to the same discussion happening again in a month. The second is a page and a half of narrative that hides the one decision people needed.
The fix is not better note-taking. It is a smaller format.
The five lines
Write every set of minutes with the same five lines, in the same order:
- Date and who was there. Names only, and who was absent but needs to know.
- Decisions. What was agreed, one sentence each. If nothing was decided, say so.
- Actions. Each with one owner and a due date.
- Open questions. What is still unresolved and who will bring an answer.
- Next meeting. Date, and the one topic that must be on the agenda.
That is all. Discussion, opinions and the order in which people spoke do not belong here. If someone needs the reasoning behind a major decision, record it separately in a one-page decision log; the minutes only point to it.
One owner per action
"The team will update the price list" has no owner and will not happen. Write "Marta updates the price list by Friday 6 November". One person, one date. If two people must work together, name the one who is responsible for the result and let them ask the other.
Say the actions aloud before the meeting ends. It takes two minutes, and it catches the cases where the person named did not realise they had agreed.
Who writes them
Decide this before the meeting, not after. The person who runs the meeting should not also take the minutes if the meeting is a hard discussion. For a regular weekly team meeting, rotate the role so the load is shared and everybody learns what a useful line looks like.
Write during the meeting, not afterwards from memory. Five lines can be typed live in a shared document that everyone sees on the screen, which also lets people correct a wrong entry on the spot.
Send them the same day
Minutes sent a week later are a history lesson. Minutes sent within a few hours are a to-do list. Aim for the same day, and put the actions in the first few lines of the message so a busy reader sees their own name straight away.
Where to keep them
Choose one place and use it for everything: a shared folder, a team wiki or a project tool, whichever your staff already open daily. Do not create a new tool just for minutes.
Use a predictable name, such as 2026-10-26 weekly team or 2026-10-26 customer review, so that anyone can find the right file without asking. Keep one folder per recurring meeting. Search is only helpful when names are consistent.
Mind what you write down
Minutes are shared with more people than were in the room, and they last longer than memory. Leave out health matters, pay, performance concerns and customer personal data unless the group that can open the file really needs them. If your team handles personal data, the Information Commissioner's Office has guidance for small organisations on what you may keep and for how long.
Using AI note-takers
Transcription and summary tools can produce a first draft of the five lines. Treat the result as a draft: a person checks the decisions and the owners before it is sent. Check also whether everyone in the meeting has been told that the call is recorded, and whether your supplier is allowed to process the content. The details are in our article on AI meeting notes.
What to do this week
- Copy the five lines into a template in your shared folder.
- Pick the one recurring meeting where minutes are missing or ignored.
- Name who writes them for the next four meetings.
- Send them the same day, and ask at the next meeting whether anyone used them.
- After a month, drop any line nobody needed.
If people are not opening the minutes, they are probably too long. Shorten them first before you change anything else.
Sources
- Information Commissioner's Office, Advice for small organisations: handling and keeping personal data.
- Information Commissioner's Office, UK GDPR guidance and resources: rules on personal data that may appear in records.
- National Cyber Security Centre, Small business guide: basic protection for shared files.