Meeting Minutes: Template and Worked Example
A reusable structure for meeting minutes, followed by a filled-in example. Good minutes record
decisions and commitments, not everything that was said.
What minutes should contain
• Date, time, location or call link, and the name of the person taking the minutes.
• Attendees, apologies, and anyone who joined or left partway through.
• The agenda items actually discussed, in the order taken.
• Decisions, recorded as decisions, with the reasoning in one line.
• Actions, each with a single named owner and a due date. Shared ownership means no
ownership.
• Items explicitly deferred, and to when.
• The date of the next meeting.
Circulate minutes within one Business Day while memories are fresh. Ask for corrections within
two days, then treat the record as final. Keep the tone neutral and factual: record that an
objection was raised and how it was resolved, not who sounded frustrated.
Worked example
Meeting: Product roadmap review. Date: 13 August 2026, 10:00 to 11:00. Location: Meeting
room 2 and video link. Minutes by: C. Martin.
Present: A. Smith (chair), B. Jones, C. Martin, D. Okafor. Apologies: E. Ricci. D. Okafor joined at
10:15 for item 3 onwards.
1. Review of previous actions
Four of five actions from the previous meeting were closed. The outstanding action, migrating the
reporting database, is blocked pending a security review and was carried forward with a revised
date of 27 August.
2. Q3 roadmap
A. Smith presented the draft roadmap. The main discussion concerned whether to ship the
reporting redesign and the export feature together in September or to split them. B. Jones
argued that shipping together risks the whole release if either slips. D. Okafor noted that two
large customers have asked specifically for export.
Decision: split the release. Export ships first, in early September; the reporting redesign follows
at the end of the month. Rationale: it reduces the risk of a single slip delaying both, and delivers
the more requested feature sooner.
3. Hiring and capacity
Two engineering offers are outstanding, with responses expected by 20 August. Until they are
accepted, the team is running at roughly eighty percent of planned capacity. The chair asked that
no additional scope be added to the September release while this remains the case.
Decision: scope freeze on the September release, effective immediately, with exceptions
approved only by the chair.
4. Support backlog
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The support backlog has grown from 40 to 68 open tickets over six weeks, concentrated in billing
questions. B. Jones proposed a short documentation sprint rather than adding staff, on the basis
that roughly half the tickets ask the same four questions.
Deferred to the next meeting, pending a breakdown of ticket categories.
5. Any other business
The next quarterly review pack is due on 2 September. C. Martin will circulate the template a
week beforehand.
Action log
• Complete the security review for the reporting database migration. Owner: D. Okafor. Due: 27
August.
• Confirm the export release date with the two requesting customers. Owner: A. Smith. Due: 18
August.
• Produce a category breakdown of the support backlog. Owner: B. Jones. Due: 20 August.
• Circulate the quarterly review template. Owner: C. Martin. Due: 26 August.
Decision log
• Split the September release; export ships first. Decided 13 August by consensus.
• Scope freeze on the September release until hiring is confirmed. Decided 13 August by the
chair.
Next meeting: 27 August 2026, 10:00, meeting room 2.
About this document
This is a sample template provided for reference and testing purposes. It is not legal, financial or
tax advice, and it has not been reviewed for any specific jurisdiction. Adapt the wording to your
own circumstances and have a qualified professional review it before use.
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