Project Managers and Product Managers spend a lot of time in meetings with stakeholders and high-level executives where major decisions are made as they relate to project work or product development. It is essential to have a dedicated resource present in these meetings to capture minutes, but in some instances, the Project Manager or Product Manager may have to facilitate the meeting and document meeting minutes on their own.
Meeting minutes are important because they:
- Track decisions made during the meeting
- Document action items and the resources or teams that will be responsible for them
- Record the resources that attended the meeting
- Keep the meeting organized in its flow and discussion points
- Communicate information to stakeholders that were unable to attend the meeting
Meeting minutes don’t have to be overly formal and structured – the recommendation is to always ensure that they have sub-headers for different topics discussed during the meeting, and a list of action items at the end. Let’s review some of the best practices for capturing meeting minutes below.
Send Meeting Invites that Include Agenda Items
Good meeting etiquette starts the moment a meeting invite is sent to invitees. Agenda items should always be listed on meeting invites so that the invited participants have an idea of what topics will be discussed, which will consequently allow them to come prepared to the meeting. If you haven’t had an opportunity to finalize the agenda items but want to block off the time on the invited participants’ calendars, you can include a line that reads “Agenda items to follow”. If you choose to do this, be sure to update the meeting invite with the agenda items at least 48 hours before the meeting (the earlier the better) so everyone knows the topics ahead of time, and for key resources that may be required in the meeting to also be invited.
Follow the Agenda Listed on the Meeting Invite
Always start by taking note of everyone that is present – this can be done while the attendees are either walking into the conference room or dialing into the virtual meeting. The record of attendees will help a Project Manager or Product Manager in identifying the resources that were involved in the meeting when a major decision was made. Once the attendees have been recorded (which will take less than a minute before the meeting starts), kick off the meeting by outlining the agenda items because it will help keep discussion points organized, and will let different attendees know when they need to be ready to discuss their sections of the project.
Summarize and Document Notes During the Meeting
Some Project Managers and Product Managers tend to rely on recording a meeting so they can listen to their recording later and draft meeting minutes afterwards. Even though it can help with having a separate recording of the meeting, this method tends to add more tasks to a Project Manager or Product Manager and leads to inefficiency because other tasks assigned to them will have to wait while they spend time playing back their own recording and taking notes after the meeting occurred, which may feel like attending the same meeting twice!
To ensure maximum efficiency, it is important to take notes and track decisions as they are being discussed during the meeting so that important decisions are not missed. You can always pause to clarify a point that you’re documenting before continuing a discussion during the meeting so you don’t get overwhelmed – always remember that you’re in control of your own meeting.
Document and Assign Action Items
Action items are tasks that must be completed either by a single resource or a specified team. These typically arise during discussions in a meeting and must be assigned in real time so that the assignees are aware of and agree to take on the tasks. You can go a step further and request tentative due dates for when the assigned action items need to be completed so that expectations are set on when the tasks could feasibly be done. Furthermore, it helps provide accountability as everyone will be on the same page when it comes to who is responsible for completing the tasks that were documented during a meeting.
Lastly, it is critical to disseminate the meeting minutes to all the attendees along with those that were not present within the same day the meeting occurred. This is because all the discussion content is fresh in everyone’s mind, and any clarifications can be provided immediately if something had been incorrectly documented.
At PM Imperative, we cover the latest trends in Project Management and Product Management. As PM practitioners, we understand the value the Project Managers and Product Managers bring to each organization and that’s why we focus on the most practical strategies that Project and Product Managers can implement immediately. If you found this post useful, be sure to check out our latest book: The PM Imperative – Guide for Leading & Managing Projects, People & Delivering Value. https://pmimperative.com/shop/
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