Meeting notes are not yet an action plan. Between what was discussed and what was decided, there is still some clarifying to do. Here is a template, to reuse as a playbook, to make that easier.
IN SHORT
- Separate decisions, open questions and proposed actions.
- Keep the minutes short and clear to someone who wasn’t there.
- Review before sharing: preparing is not sending.
Separate the discussion from the decisions
Go back through your notes and look for three things: the decisions made, the open questions and the proposed actions. Keep these categories separate. A suggestion is not a commitment.
When a point isn’t clear enough, mark it “to be confirmed” rather than giving it an artificial conclusion.
Keep the minutes short
A title, two lines of context and three sections are enough for a first deliverable. Add an owner and a deadline only when you know them.
The goal isn’t to transcribe every contribution, but to make what happens next clear to the person who wasn’t in the room.
Template to reuse: “Decided / To confirm / Next step”. Keep the areas of uncertainty visible.
Review before sharing
Check names, commitments and dates. Then reread the minutes from the recipient’s point of view: do they know what is being asked of them?
Clear minutes can still be a draft. Decide separately whether to keep them, correct them or share them.
In Inkore
In Inkore, you choose your notes as sources and ask for minutes that follow this template. The document can be corrected and exported to Word or PDF, and emailing it to the team goes through “Review”. See Inkore for teams.
Frequently asked questions
What should meeting minutes include?
The decisions made, the questions still open and the next steps, with an owner and a deadline when they are known. The rest of the discussion can stay in the notes. Short minutes that someone who missed the meeting can understand are worth more than a full transcript.
Can AI send the minutes to the participants?
It can prepare them and propose sending them, but it should not send anything on its own. In Inkore, sending waits for your approval in “Review”, after you have checked the text and the recipients. Preparing the minutes never authorises sending them.