How do you write an effective meeting report? Our methods and advice

The end of a meeting does not necessarily mean the end of exchanges or work, on the contrary. Then comes the action phase with the implementation of the projects and the execution of the decisions taken. This is where the report plays an essential role: it ensures the traceability of discussions, facilitates the follow-up of decisions and makes it possible to clarify the role of each participant in the implementation of actions. Provided, of course, that it is written effectively.

In this article, Formeret, a specialist in renting boardrooms, provides you with a complete toolbox for making a relevant report: ideal structure, methods, best practices and advice for dissemination and follow-up.

What is the purpose of a meeting report?

Organize a meeting is based on a number of essential steps, including writing a meeting report.

This document is essential for the effective follow-up of a meeting. It meets several objectives:

• Summarize the exchanges : it makes it possible to ensure a clear follow-up of discussions by recording the topics discussed, thus avoiding any forgetting or loss of information.
• Serve as a repository for the rest of a project : when the work meetings are followed by a project launch, the reports make it possible to clarify the decisions taken, the objectives, the deadlines, and any other information useful for the smooth running of the project.
• Assign responsibilities : the report is very important in the distribution of tasks. It allows the tasks assigned to each participant to be confirmed in writing.
• Ensuring everyone's commitment : providing a clear and accurate summary of missions, managers and deadlines encourages participants to take responsibility.
• Ensuring effective communication : by reformulating all the key points in writing, the report not only makes it possible to avoid interpretation problems, but also to inform those who are absent.
• Keep a written record of exchanges : in case of doubts or disputes, the report is used as a reference. Likewise, it makes it possible to keep traces of ideas or proposals that can later be used for other projects.

The different models of professional reporting

The types of minutes vary according to the content and challenges of the meetings.

The full report

This comprehensive report transcribed Word for word the exchanges of the participants, in a neutral way. This format is very rarely used in business because of its length and the time it requires to write, unless you really need to record everything that has been said. On the other hand, it is useful in certain cases, such as parliamentary debates or court trials.

The summary report

It is the most common format. Its aim is not to go into details. It only includes essential elements, such as the main points discussed, the decisions taken, the actions to be taken and the date of a possible next meeting. Writing should be structured and concise to be easy to read.

The minutes

Meeting minutes are official documents, often used for meetings of boards of directors, associations or general meetings. It follows a precise structure with mandatory information such as: the date, time and place of the meeting, the list of participants and absentees, the deliberations and resolutions adopted, as well as the signature of the chairman and the secretary of the meeting.

What is the ideal structure for meeting minutes?

What must be mentioned in a report depends on theObjective of the meeting. Are these public meetings, a professional meeting (sales meeting, product launch, brainstorming, etc.), a plenary meeting, etc.?

Effective reporting should follow a well-defined structure. Here is a sample report of a project meeting :

General information

As an introduction, the report should include a set of various information, such as:

• The date and place of the meeting,
• the identity of the writer and the moderator of the meeting,
• the list of participants and possibly absentees,
• a reminder of the context and objectives of the meeting.

Agenda and items discussed

The agenda is used to announce the Outline of the meeting, with the topics that should be discussed in a structured and chronological manner. Agenda items should be mentioned in the minutes.

Be sure to include a summary of all key interventions, as well as questions raised during the meeting. Depending on the purpose of the meeting, this part will be more or less detailed. The main objective is to transcribe the exchanges in a coherent way.

To see an example of an agenda and to help you prepare a meeting, find our agenda template.‍

Decisions taken and actions to follow

This is probably the most important part. Following the exchanges, what decisions were taken? Who should do what and within what timeframe? Were any obstacles mentioned? Reading this information should be clear and fast. Indeed, the report also acts as acheat sheet : when in doubt, everyone should be able to consult meeting notes and easily find the information they are looking for.

Next steps and next meeting date

The conclusion of the report allows synthesize information mentioned above, but is mainly used to Program future actions and schedule a follow-up meeting, if required.

How do you take notes effectively?

A good report depends on the quality of the notes taken during the meeting. Here are a few Tips for taking effective notes And for write a clear account at the end of the meeting.

Taking notes during the meeting

Writing notes during the meeting generally acts as a Draft. But good note taking makes it possible to broadcast a Faithful report to what was said.

The idea is not to write down every word spoken, unless it's an exhaustive account. On the other hand, be sure to Report all the different key points, such as votes taken, projects assigned, decisions taken, questions, etc.

Taking notes during a meeting requires beingActive listening. It is sometimes possible to make recordings during important strategic meetings, for example. The audio recording ensures that no information is omitted.

As much as possible, give preference to manual note taking that promotes memorization. In addition, not using your computer allows you to stay focused on the purpose of the meeting without being distracted by notifications or emails.

Restitution and review of notes

After the meeting, the rapporteur should review his notes for organize neatly. It is advisable to do this immediately after the meeting so as not to forget important details.

In addition to organizing information, consider remove unnecessary details or the digressions. Also pay attention to do not add personal remarks not shared during discussions. The report must remain faithful to the group's discussions. You can rephrase things to make them clear, using short sentences and simple vocabulary, but avoid interpretations : the report must remain factual.

Côté shaping, prefer a readable structure with titles, subtitles and bulleted lists, or even in table form. Finally, it is advisable to Have the report reviewed by another person than the editor before it is broadcast to make sure that everything is clear and that nothing has been forgotten.

Dissemination of meeting minutes and follow-up

At the end of the meeting, the minutes are sent to everyone involved. Les Diffusion biases are numerous. The report can be sent by email, via collaborative platforms or project management tools. If documents were presented during the meeting, and if it is relevant, you can also send them in addition.

After submitting the report, be sure to follow up on each important topic. To do this, you can organize regular progress points, set up a reminder system or even integrate actions into a task monitoring tool.

Best practices and useful tools

Here are a few tips to easily write your reports.

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• Report templates: to write reports quickly, do not hesitate to prepare templates in advance. This will allow you to focus on important information and prevent you from spending too much time handing over your notes. In addition, having a predefined template allows you to quickly structure the document and standardize the presentation.
• Collaborative note-taking tools : tools like Microsoft OneNote, Evernote or Google Docs allow several collaborators (defined in advance) to add their inputs to the report.
• Specialized applications: applications facilitate the organization of the report. This is the case, for example, with Otter.ai for automatic transcription, Notion for centralizing minutes, or even Zoom or Teams for recording meetings and transcribing them.

Conclusion

One well-written meeting report is a tool for monitoring decisions and promoting good internal communication. Keep in mind that it must meet certain criteria: neutrality, relevance and readability.

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