Board meeting minutes template

When to use it

Use it for a formal meeting of a board of directors, trustees or a committee, where the minutes become the official record of what was decided, who proposed it and how the vote went. The chair usually approves them at the next meeting, so they need to be accurate rather than long.

What goes in each section

• 1. Opening and quorum. The time the chair opened the meeting and whether enough members were present for decisions to count.
• 2. Minutes of the previous meeting. Whether the last minutes were approved as a correct record, and any corrections made first.
• 3. Declarations of interest. Anyone with a personal or financial interest in an item, and what they did about it (for example, left the room for that item).
• 4. Reports. One or two sentences per report: who gave it and the points the board needs to remember. Attach the full report rather than copying it.
• 5. Matters for decision. For each decision, the motion exactly as put, who proposed and seconded it, the vote and the result.
• 6. Actions. Every commitment, with one owner and a due date. If nobody owns it, it is not an action yet.
• 7. Any other business. Items raised that were not on the agenda, and whether they were decided or deferred.
• 8. Next meeting and close. Date, time and place of the next meeting, and the time the meeting closed.

Use it in Word, Google Docs or Notion

The Word file opens in Microsoft Word, Pages and Google Docs, with the section headings set as real headings, so they appear in the document outline. To use the template in Notion, download the Markdown file, choose Import in Notion’s sidebar, pick Text & Markdown and select the file.

Let the recording fill it in

Record the meeting with EchoPilot and the minutes come back with a summary, chaptered notes, key points and an action card for every commitment, each tied to the moment it was said. EchoPilot does not write formal motions or count votes, so take those from the key points and the transcript, where every line plays its moment, and use the action cards to fill section 6.

See what a set of Meeting Minutes contains, and how each commitment becomes a card you approve.

Other templates

• Project meeting minutes template: Status at a glance, what moved since last time, the decisions made, the risks with owners, and the actions that keep the project on track.
• One-on-one meeting notes template: Their topics first, then yours, feedback in both directions, progress on growth goals, and the few actions you both agree to.
• Client meeting minutes template: The client’s goals in their words, the decisions and scope changes, commitments on both sides, and the open questions you owe an answer to.
• Standup meeting notes template: Done, next and blocked for each person, the blockers that need an owner today, and a parking lot for the conversations that should happen after.
• Informal meeting minutes template: Who was there, what you talked about, what you decided and who does what by when, for the conversations that never had an agenda.