What is Minutes of Meeting (MoM) Software? Templates for MoM

Productive meetings are crucial for collaboration, but recalling all the details discussed in the meeting can be tough. That’s why you need to create minutes of the meeting to document each detail about it. In this article, we will learn about MOM and how you can create one. But first, let’s learn what exactly MOM is.

What are Minutes of Meeting (MoM)?

MOM typically stands for “Minutes of Meeting.” It refers to a formal written record of discussions, decisions, and action items that occur during a meeting.

MOM is essential for documenting the points discussed during a meeting, assigning responsibilities, and providing a reference for participants. It includes key points of discussion, all the participants, and the resolution of the meeting.

Importance of Meeting Minutes

The Minutes of Meeting (MOM) play an essential role in organizational efficiency and communication. By documenting discussions, decisions, and action items, MOM serves as a crucial reference point, ensuring clarity and understanding among participants.

MOM serves as a historical archive, capturing the evolution of ideas and strategies over time.

In addition to facilitating communication by sharing key information with absent team members, MOM contributes to more effective planning and strategy development.

When Should You Make MoM?

MOM can be used in the following cases:

• Recording the takeaways and goals of a meeting
• Creating the meeting summary for those who did not attend the meeting
• Keeping it as a legal document in case of formal meetings
• Maintaining a reference document to be used in the future meeting

Steps Involved in Creating MOM

While creating minutes of meeting, you need to list down meeting agenda, attendee list, and existing MOM. You also need to note down who is absent and present in the meeting. Let’s see a detailed enumeration of all the steps that you need to follow to create a MOM:

• Preparation: Gather necessary details like agenda, attendee list, and previous MOM. Also, set up a template for recording.
• Attendance: Note the details of attendees who are present and absent. Mark any guests or notable participants.
• Agenda Review: Go through the meeting agenda, ensuring each item is addressed.
• Discussion Details: Record key points, decisions, and action items by using concise language.
• Assign Responsibilities: Clearly attribute action items to individuals with deadlines.
• Clarifications: Include any clarifications made during the meeting for context.
• Closure: Confirm the meeting’s conclusion and note any follow-up requirements.
• Review and Approval: Share the MOM for review and get necessary approvals.
• Distribution: Distribute the final MOM to attendees and relevant stakeholders promptly.

Benefits of Making a MOM

Minutes of Meeting (MOM) offer crucial benefits. They provide a documented record of discussions, decisions, and action items, ensuring clarity and accountability. Here are some other benefits of creating a MOM:

• Documentation: They provide a formal record of discussions, decisions, and action items during a meeting.
• Reference: Minutes serve as a reference for participants to recall what has been discussed and what tasks were assigned.
• Accountability: They assign responsibility by documenting action items and deadlines, promoting accountability among participants.
• Communication: MOM facilitates communication by sharing key information with those who couldn’t attend the meeting.
• Planning: They aid in future planning by summarizing past discussions and outcomes, helping to shape future actions and strategies.
• Alignment: Minutes ensure that all participants have a shared understanding of what was discussed and decided, reducing misunderstandings.

What to Include in Minutes of Meeting?

When it comes to writing minutes of meeting, there are several elements that you need to include in the document: Here are some essential elements of MOM:

• Meeting date and time
• Attendees list and their roles
• Objectives or goals of the meeting
• Meeting agenda and topics discussed
• Actions to be taken and decisions made
• Upcoming steps and timeline for follow-up
• Signatures and initials of attendees for validation

Writing Meeting Minutes (Best Practices)

For effective minutes of meeting, you must record the date, time and the number of participants. Next, you need to add details about the upcoming meeting.

• Create Meeting Outline in Advance: To make the meeting more fruitful, it is better to create a meeting outline along with all the points that will be discussed in a meeting. This will help avoid confusion at the start of the meeting and ensure attendees stick to the valid agenda.
• Jot Down Meeting Purpose: During this time, try to jot down the purpose of the meeting and what is expected to be achieved in this meeting. These notes will be helpful for those who were unable to participate in the meeting
• Decide on the Upcoming Meeting Date: If you are taking meeting notes, then it is equally essential to include when the next meeting will take place with respect to the topic discussed. This will provide participants with a guideline of how long they need to complete the assigned tasks. Moreover, deciding an upcoming meeting date will also help in prioritizing your tasks.
• Use AI to Create Meeting Summary: If you are responsible for creating notes in the meeting, then you can use a meeting transcription tool. With this tool, all the call recordings, transcriptions, and summaries are linked to the meeting and calendar, so everything stays in one place.
• Utilize the Agenda to Track Meeting’s Key Points: After the meeting, you can use the meeting agenda to track outcomes. By using an agenda as your general guideline, you will be able to measure your progress towards the set goals.

Templates for Creating Minutes of Meetings

1. Formal Board MoM Template
2. Informal Meeting MoM Example
3. Board Meeting MoM Template
4. David Sacks’ SaaS Board Meeting MoM Template
5. Monthly Management Meeting
6. Sprint Planning Template
7. One-on-One Meeting Template

To create minutes of meetings quickly, you can use preconfigured templates. MOM templates can range from Formal Board Meeting Minutes to Monthly Management Minutes, Informal Meeting Minutes, Sprint Planning, SaaS Meeting, and so on. Each of these templates is provided below to streamline your MOM procedure.

1. Formal Board Meeting Minutes Template

Call to order Facilitated by the ‘Chair of the Board’ • [Meeting facilitator] called to order the regular meeting of [Organization] at [time] on [date] in [location]. Roll call The secretary conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: • Secretary • Senior Manager • Meeting Facilitator Approval of minutes Before any official business can be conducted, the board must approve the minutes from the last meeting. • [Secretary] read the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were approved. Open issues Items that the board has previously discussed and are ready for formal approval. New business These items may be voted on, amended, tabled, moved to committee for consideration or postponed. Adjournment After all the open issues and new business have been discussed and documented, the meeting facilitator will adjourn the board meeting. • [Meeting facilitator] adjourned the meeting at [time meeting ended]. Submission and approval of minutes Minute taker must submit the minutes for approval by the Board Chair or meeting facilitator. • Minutes submitted by: [Name] • Minutes approved by: [Name]

2. Informal Meeting Minutes Example

Call to order A meeting of [organization] was held at [location] on [date]. Attendees • Voting members in attendance included: • Guests in attendance included: • Members not in attendance included: Approval of minutes • A motion to approve the minutes of the previous [date] meeting was made by [name] and seconded by [name]. Reports • [Report name] was presented by [name of presenter]. • [Report name] was presented by [name of presenter]. Main motions • Motion: Moved by [name] and seconded that [state the motion here]. The motion [carried or failed] with [number] in favour and [number] against. Adjournment • [Name of mover] moved that the meeting be adjourned, and this was agreed upon at [time of adjournment]. • Secretary: • Date of approval:

3. Board Meeting Minutes Template

Meeting details Note the meeting type, date, and time. • Name of meeting: • Date: • Time: Roll call Note the attendees in the meeting. • Chairperson: • Secretary: • Presiding officers: • Absent board directors: • Other guests or staff members present: Old business Key meeting minutes and decisions from the last board meeting. • Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes • Unresolved action items from previous board meetings New business Include reports from officers, committees, or different board directors. • Agenda item 1 • Agenda item 2 • Agenda item 3 Action steps Closing End the board meeting by documenting the following information: • Date and time of the next board meeting • The time when the meeting adjourns • Secretary approval: • President/Chairperson approval:

4. David Sacks’ SaaS Board Meeting Template

• CEO Update [30 minutes] Wins, challenges, learnings, and KPIs. • Sales Update [30 minutes] ARR, deals, closed, objections, and forecast • Departmental Updates [20 minutes] Product roadmap and updates from other departments. • Financials [10-20 minutes] Gross margin, financial plans, and operational expenditure. • Team [10-20 minutes] What areas have the greatest need for new hires? • Administrative Matters [5-10 minutes] Housekeeping and administrative matters • Action items What came out of this meeting?

5. Monthly Management Meetings

Monthly Management Meeting Review Metrics/KPIs Track progress on metrics and goals vs. Actual results. Where are we off from the plan? Why? Company Update Share key updates and provide a “State of the Union.” Department/Team Lead Roundtable Keep everyone up to date, look for efficiencies, and help each other get unblocked. Name • Recent wins • Current priorities • Anything you are stuck on? Professional Development (Optional) Improve your long-term business results through an interactive learning or team-building experience. Problem-Solving Session Choose one challenge or area of priority. • Presentation on the challenge • Open discussion to better understand the challenge and find solutions • Assign next steps Next Steps @name Task by DUE-DATE

6. Sprint Planning Template

Sprint Planning Sprint Goal What is the main purpose of this sprint? Define key objectives below.‍ Sprint Backlog What user stories match the sprint goal? Share this with your team prior to the meeting so they can contribute. Break each user story down into individual tasks. Make sure each task has as much information as possible. Include important metrics. ‍Epics to be Delivered List out the epics that we’re planning to start or deliver during this sprint.‍ Scope of Work Clarification Revisit your definition of “done.” Decide on the acceptance criteria used to determine when each task is complete. Make sure all of this realistically aligns with your team’s capacity. Key Risks & Concerns What potential issues could come up based on the goal and sprint backlog? How can we solve them? Does the scope of work allot enough time for unexpected issues. ‍Notes and Takeaways What were the main insights and discussion points from this sprint planning session?‍ Act Get verbal confirmation from your team about the next steps to be taken. Clarify who’s completing them and when they should be done by. Note this information here to share and assign. Follow-Up How will we keep in touch and stay up to date about progress? Should we schedule a follow-up meeting?

7. One-on-One Meeting Template

One-on-One: Manager Weekly 1:1 Intro question Start with an open-ended question. How was last week? What’s been working well for you lately? Celebrate Wins & Lessons Learned What have we accomplished since our last meeting? Note progress on important initiatives. How can we be better? Highlight lessons learned from the previous week. Remove Roadblocks What (if anything) is stopping—or slowing down—your progress? How can we remove that roadblock? What support do you need? Plan to remove specific roadblocks and create action items. Two-Way Evaluation and Feedback How are we doing? How can we work together more effectively? Open Discussion Provide time for open discussion. Is there anything else you want to talk about? Follow-Up Should we schedule another one-on-one? Review any action items arising from the one-on-one. Action Items

Top Software to Create Minutes of Meeting

You can choose from both free and paid software available to create MoM. Here are some of the most popular options that you can consider:

Free MOM Software

• Google Notes: It is a free software that you can use for creating MOM, sharing them, archiving notes, etc.
• Evernote: Evernote is free to use for taking and capturing notes, creating a do-to list, collaborating on notes, etc.
• EasyRetro: With it, you can create sticky notes, share them with colleagues, create action items, write down project ideas, and so on.

Paid MOM Software

• NTask: It can be used for creating and assigning tasks, sharing task details with others, planning project details, conducting meetings, etc.
• Zipdo: This meeting notes app connects with the calendar and creates collaborative notes for every meeting.
• Beenote: It is an AI based software that you can use for creating, managing, and organizing your meetings.

Conclusion

With the help of minutes of meeting, it becomes extremely easy to summarize the entire meeting in a few important points.

After going through the article, you have got an idea of why you should create an MOM and you can create one for yourself. For an easier approach, you can also consider templates to create MOM depending on your use cases.

FAQs Related to Minutes of Meeting (MoM)