5 minute read · Updated October 2026
Why most meeting notes fail
The usual notes follow the conversation: a line for each topic, in the order it came up, with a few quotes. They take real effort to write and they are almost useless a week later, because what people need from a meeting is not the discussion. It is what was decided, who is doing what, and by when.
Good notes are short, and they are written for someone who was not in the room.
Before: know what the meeting is for
- Write the purpose in one line. “Decide the year-two price.” “Agree who owns the launch tasks.” If you cannot, that is worth raising before the meeting, not during it.
- List the questions that need answers. These become the skeleton of your notes, and you will notice when one has not been answered.
- Have the documents open. The proposal, the last notes, the numbers. Most “I’ll get back to you on that” moments are an answer sitting in a file nobody could find fast enough.
During: capture four things, and only four
- Decisions. Write each one as a full sentence that would make sense on its own: “Year-two price stays at the 12% uplift.” Not “pricing: discussed”.
- Actions, each with one owner and a date. “Priya: revised order form to the client by Friday.” An action with two owners has none, and an action with no date is a wish.
- Open questions. What nobody could answer, and who is going to find out.
- Numbers and exact wording. Prices, dates, quantities, and anything a client said that you will want to quote. These are the only things you cannot reconstruct afterwards.
Leave out the discussion that led to a decision unless the reasoning will matter later. If it will, one line is enough: “because the client’s budget is fixed until April”.
When something is said and you are not sure whether it was a decision, ask: “So we’re agreed that…?” It feels awkward for two seconds and saves a week.
A template that fits on one screen
[Meeting name], [date]
Present: [names]Decided
• [Decision, as a full sentence]
• [Decision]Actions
• [Owner]: [what], by [date]
• [Owner]: [what], by [date]Open questions
• [Question], [who is finding out]Next meeting
[Date, and what it is for]
After: send them within the hour
- Send the notes the same day, while everyone still remembers enough to correct them. Notes sent three days later are treated as history.
- Put the actions in the email itself, not only in an attachment. People read the first screen.
- Ask for corrections by a time. “Tell me by tomorrow noon if I got anything wrong” turns your notes into the agreed record.
- Start the next meeting from the last notes. Open with the actions and whether each is done. This is what makes people take the notes seriously.
Should you record the meeting?
A recording, or better a transcript, means you can take part in the meeting instead of typing through it, and it settles “what exactly did they say?” afterwards. Two cautions. First, a transcript is not notes: nobody will read forty pages, so you still need the one screen above. Second, tell people. In many places the law requires everyone’s agreement before a conversation is recorded, and many companies and clients have their own rules. Say it at the start, and stop if anyone objects.
Where a tool like Audiken helps
Audiken writes the transcript while you listen and take part. It answers questions from your project’s files as they come up, so fewer things turn into “I’ll get back to you”. Afterwards, one press gives you the decisions, the actions with owners and dates, and the open questions, each with the moment it was said, and a draft of the follow-up to send. See how it works in a meeting.
Try it in your next meeting
Audiken transcribes what is said, explains things as they come up, and builds notes, documents and study material from your own files. Accounts are opening a few at a time.
Accounts are opening a few at a time. No card needed, and one email when yours is ready.