Taking corporate meeting minutes is something that is absolutely essential when it comes to effectively documenting the key discussions, decisions, and action points that happen in board meetings and other formal meetings. However you choose to take minutes, and whether you are a designated minutes taker for a board of directors meeting or somebody looking to boost the efficiency of formal meetings in general, accurate meeting minutes really help to maintain a reliable record and accountability.

In this guide, we're going to explore the importance of corporate meeting minutes, provide a quick template, and walk through how you can improve the process drastically with AI note taker tools. These smart tools help by automatically recording and summarizing your meetings in meeting minutes that become instantly available post-meeting (regardless of virtual meeting platform choice).

What Are Corporate Meeting Minutes?

Corporate meeting minutes are official records summarizing the main discussions, decisions, and actions from a meeting. They capture the important stuff - details like the meeting agenda, attendees, and any voting that took place, while providing a concise summary of key takeaways and next steps that can be used by everyone in that session.

Meeting minutes serve as a point of reference, which is why they're so essential. For the organization or company, good minutes help both attendees and those who couldn’t attend to understand the decisions made and the future actions that need to be taken. However, meeting notes and minutes can also help beyond this - well-documented minutes contribute to organizational transparency and accountability and are often kept on file for legal and regulatory compliance.

Why Are Meeting Minutes Important?

• Documentation and Reference: Meeting minutes provide that formal record. Extremely useful for attendees and employees to reference in the future.
• Accountability and Clarity: Accountability! They stop people from cutting corners as they clearly assign responsibility for tasks and follow-up actions.
• Legal Compliance: As we said, in many cases, formal meetings such as board meetings must be documented for legal reasons.
• Clarity and Transparency: Well-written minutes can be distributed to all relevant employees/externals. This helps to keep everyone informed and aligned on decisions and next steps.

How to Take Meeting Minutes: Step-by-Step Guide

Creating meeting minutes doesn’t have to be time-consuming or complicated, and in our opinion, it shouldn't be. That is why we are here to give a recommendation. Above, we mentioned the power of AI note-taking tools, and with our suggested tool, Bubbles, you can use AI to automatically record, transcribe, and summarize your meeting minutes with ease.

You have two options here - either install the Bubbles Chrome or Edge extension from the Chrome/Edge Web Store. This way, you can paste your meeting link into the extension for a Notetaker to instantly join your meeting. Alternatively, follow below for steps on how to visit the Bubbles app for a more integrated experience.

Here’s how Bubbles can help you get started, alongside examples of what your meeting minutes will look like if you use Bubbles:

Step 1: Sign Up for Bubbles

‍Visit the Bubbles app and sign up for a free account. During setup, connect your calendar to make sure upcoming meetings are synced with Bubbles. This allows Bubbles to join your meetings automatically, whether they’re on Zoom, Google Meet, or other platforms.

Step 2: Schedule Your Meeting

‍Once your calendar is connected, schedule your meeting as usual. If your calendar isn't connected, paste the meeting link into your Notetaker area in the Bubbles app, which allows the AI to join individual meetings - you can also toggle meetings on/off once your calendar is connected.

Step 3: Start Your Meeting

‍When your meeting begins, Bubbles will join to record, transcribe, and take meeting minutes. You can proceed with the meeting, knowing that your conversation is being accurately documented.‍

Step 4: Access Your Meeting Minutes

‍After the meeting, Bubbles processes the recording and sends you a follow-up email with your meeting minutes, automatically generated action items, and concise summary.

Included in this email is a link to a full recording and transcription, as shown below. These minutes, as well as the recording/transcription, can be reviewed, edited, and shared with your team as needed.

Using Bubbles allows you to focus on the discussion while AI handles the note-taking and provides polished meeting minutes afterward. You can be confident that decisions made during the meeting, including specific details of motions passed, voting results, and other key resolutions, will all be captured and ready for you to review post-meeting.

Preparing for the Meeting: Best Practices

Taking effective meeting minutes starts with good preparation. Here’s what you should do before the meeting:

• Review the Agenda: Always have a meeting agenda. Familiarize yourself with the agenda, as it will help you anticipate key discussion points which can then be picked-up by Bubbles/written yourself.
• Set Up Your Template/Tech: Depending on whether you are using Bubbles/doing this manually/using both, either prepare a minutes template to streamline the note-taking process or get your tech set up properly.
• Familiarize Yourself with Participants: Knowing the names and roles of participants (especially in a board meeting) will help statements, tasks, and votes to be accurately attributed.
• Assign Roles: Clarify who will be responsible for note-taking if it isn’t you or Bubbles. When you assign your roles (chair, secretary, etc), you can be confident in knowing that all of this will be captured in the recording.

Meeting Minutes Template for Corporate Use

While we strongly recommend the use of Bubbles, we also know that some of you might want to do this manually. With that in mind, here’s a simple template you can use to structure your corporate meeting minutes:

[Corporate Meeting Minutes Template]

• Meeting Date and Time: [Date and Time]
• Type of Meeting: [e.g., Board Meeting]
• Location: [Location or Virtual Link]
• Attendees: [List of Attendees]
• Agenda Items:
  1. [Agenda Item 1]: [Brief summary of discussion and outcomes]
  2. [Agenda Item 2]: [Brief summary of discussion and outcomes]
• Decisions Made:
  • Motion to [Description of Motion]
    • Proposed by: [Proposer’s Name]
    • Seconded by: [Seconder’s Name]
    • Result: [Passed/Rejected]
• Action Items:
  • Task: [Task Description]
    • Assigned to: [Person’s Name]
    • Deadline: [Due Date]
• Next Meeting Date: [Date and Time]

[End of Template]