Taking effective meeting notes

Before: the goal and the agenda

Good notes start before the meeting. Write in one sentence what you expect: a decision to make, information to share, a problem to solve. That sentence will guide what you keep.

Then prepare the agenda: three to five points are enough, in the order in which they will be handled. A page with one title per point gives you a skeleton that you fill in as you listen.

Finally, reread the notes of the last meeting: the actions left open will be the first to check. This simple reminder brings continuity and shows that everyone's time is taken seriously.

During: decisions, actions, open questions

Resist the urge to note everything. A meeting mostly produces three kinds of useful information:

• Decisions: what was settled, and why in one sentence.
• Actions: what must be done.
• Open questions: what remains to be clarified.

Use short sentences and action verbs. If a point stays unclear, ask for it to be rephrased before moving on: it is a service to everyone.

Keep a margin on the right of the page, or a separate column, for actions: they can then be spotted at a glance when you write up. Mark with a simple sign the points you must come back to.

Assign: who does what by when

An action without an owner or a deadline is an intention. Each time an action appears, write three things: the task, the person, the date.

Read the list out loud before the end of the meeting. This short round avoids misunderstandings and lets everyone confirm what they understood.

When a deadline looks unrealistic, say so right away: a date that can be met, discussed in the room, is better than an optimistic date that will slip. A deadline accepted out loud has a much better chance of being met.

Afterwards: send the report the same day

A report sent the same day gets read; sent a week later, it is no use. Take up your notes while the discussion is fresh, remove what is secondary and send.

Put the decisions and the actions first, with their owners and dates. The rest, the context and the discussions, can follow briefly.

Reread your text one last time putting yourself in the place of someone who was absent: would they understand what was decided and what is expected of them? If so, send it.

What AI brings: transcription and a summary to reread

An AI meeting assistant transcribes the conversation and draws a summary from it, which lets you stay attentive rather than taking notes without looking up.

With ALDO, each session leaves a summary in your history, with the questions and the points discussed. It is an excellent starting point: reread it, correct it, complete it with what only you know about the context.

The summary does not replace your judgment: it is for you to decide what deserves to be kept and shared.

For an important meeting, check the decisions and the actions in particular: they are what participants will look for in your report. A few minutes of rereading is enough to turn an automatic summary into a reliable document.

A report template (a list to copy)

Copy this outline and adapt it to your meetings:

• Subject and date of the meeting.
• Attendees.
• Decisions made.
• Actions: task, owner, deadline.
• Open questions.
• Date of the next meeting.

A stable outline makes your reports easy to read and to find, from one meeting to the next.

Keep all your reports in the same place, under a regular name (date, subject). In a month, when someone asks what had been decided, you will find the answer in a few seconds.