The Complete Guide for Every Meeting Minute Taker

You're 30 minutes into an important meeting when you suddenly realise that you've not taken any notes, or perhaps the ones that you have taken are illegible scribbles - does this sound familiar?

With 11 million meetings happening daily in the US and employees spending nearly a third of their workweek in meetings, you're not alone. Writing meeting minutes has become an essential part of most people's daily lives. Harvard Business Review studies show that executives now spend 23 hours per week in meetings - more than double the 10 hours spent in the 1960s.

But there's a difference between writing meeting minutes and writing quality meeting minutes.

The maths is simple and brutal: according to the National Centre for Voice and Speech, people in meetings are conversing at about 150 words per minute, whilst research on computer users shows average typing speeds of 32.5 words per minute for transcription and just 19 words per minute for composition. How do you keep up?

To complicate matters further, Hermann Ebbinghaus's research on memory retention shows that around 50% of what you do not write down within an hour will be forgotten. Within 24 hours, you've lost 70%. Time is of the essence.

Poor meeting documentation has real consequences - companies lose approximately $37 billion annually to unproductive meetings, making effective note-taking crucial for business success.

This guide covers every approach - from basic note taking to AI automation - helping you choose the right solution and avoid costly mistakes.

Your meeting documentation options: from basic to advanced

The good news is that with the emergence of new tools and technology, you have more ways to tackle meeting documentation than ever before. Studies in the Journal of Applied Psychology identify keeping minutes as one of five critical factors that determine meeting effectiveness - it's not optional, it's essential.

The key is understanding what each approach offers and choosing the right fit for your specific needs, meeting frequency, and the consequences of "getting it wrong". Your main options are:

• Manual note taking - This option doesn't involve any technology - just a pen and paper.
• Digital tools - Using supportive digital tools like recording and note taking applications.
• AI-powered solutions - Solutions that utilise AI to produce meeting documents for you.

Let's explore each approach so you can make the right choice for your situation.

Manual note taking

Before the meeting

• If an agenda is available, read it. This will help build your understanding of what the key discussion points are likely to be. Meeting productivity research suggests that structured preparation significantly improves information capture accuracy.
• Create a simple template for your notes. Your template should be easy to follow so that you can both add notes during the meeting and use them to produce meeting documentation after the meeting. Include sections for data that is necessary for your documentation, like: attendees, action points, etc.
• If you are presenting or leading during the meeting, it'll be difficult for you to do this and take notes. Think about delegating note taking to a colleague.

During the meeting

• Don't try to write down everything that was said. Focus on outcomes. Listen out for phrases like "so we've decided that...", "in the next meeting, we will...", "who will handle that?". Use these as your signals that important information is due to follow.
• If you miss something or don't fully understand something that was said, don't be afraid to politely ask for clarification. You can even use the meeting minutes as your excuse for cutting in, like "So that I can ensure the meeting minutes are accurate, please can you repeat what the action item was and who will be responsible?"
• Use abbreviations and shorthand to save time when writing your notes. However, be careful not to make your notes too ambiguous. You must be able to understand them later on.

After the meeting

• If you can manage it, review and clean up your notes immediately after the meeting whilst the discussion is fresh in your memory. This is also the best time to check in with colleagues if you need to clarify anything in your notes. Memory research shows that reviewing information soon after learning it helps combat the natural forgetting process.
• Store your meeting notes somewhere secure but also accessible to you, so that you know where to find them later on.
• If your meeting notes will be used to produce and share meeting documentation with important time-sensitive information - like actions with due dates in the near future - try to schedule in some time to finalise and distribute documentation as soon as possible.

Digital tools

Note taking

Truthfully, writing meeting notes by hand is slow and many of us are far quicker at typing. Research shows considerable variation in both handwriting and typing speeds, but typing generally offers speed advantages for most people. Additionally, notes taken digitally are more accessible, secure, easier to edit, search and share than handwritten notes.

• Notepad - The chances are, you're working on a device that has a basic notepad app. Simple, lightweight and requires no account or licence to use. Perfect for basic low level note taking during a meeting.
• Microsoft Word - If you're working for an organisation that has Microsoft products, Word is probably your go-to option. Offers way more functionality than a basic Notepad app, including templating, formatting, and easy sharing.
• Google Docs - Some organisations use Google Workspace. If so, this is your like-for-like alternative to Microsoft Word. Nowadays, Google Docs is arguably on par with Microsoft Word when it comes to features and functionality.

However, speed isn't everything. Research suggests that handwriting may offer cognitive benefits for learning and retention, as it requires more deliberate processing of information.

Recording meetings

An overlooked solution to ensuring meeting outcomes are not lost is simply recording the meeting. This solves memory retention issues and gives you a safety net to fall back on post-meeting. Remember (no pun intended) that 70% of information is forgotten within 24 hours - but a recording never forgets! Additionally, knowing you have a full backup allows you to be more present during the discussion itself.

• Virtual and hybrid meetings - Most meeting platforms like Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet have built in recording features. Simply start recording (or ask a meeting host or co-host) at the start of the meeting and the app will handle the rest. The recording is usually saved automatically and shared with participants, making it easy to access later.
• In person meetings - Use your mobile device or laptop to record the discussion. Most mobile devices and computers come with basic voice recording apps that are perfectly adequate for capturing meeting discussions. Place your device close to all main speakers.

Important: You must only ever record your meeting once all participants have agreed to be recorded.

AI-powered solutions

The "AI revolution" has transformed the documentation space. Instead of spending hours converting notes into documents, AI can generate structured meeting summaries in minutes.

• Microsoft Copilot - Integrates with Microsoft Teams and can automatically generate meeting summaries. Copilot can save significant time by producing quick overviews of discussions, action items, and key decisions from your meeting recordings.
• Google Gemini - Can process meeting transcripts and create summaries, particularly useful if you're already in the Google ecosystem. Like Copilot, it excels at extracting key information from meeting content and presenting it in an organised format.
• Voxxy - Works with all online meeting applications. Goes beyond generic summaries by creating formatted documents using custom templates for meeting types, like performance reviews, client consultations, or project updates.

The highs and lows of using AI for meeting documentation

Saving time

The time savings are genuinely impressive. Voxxy can generate a transcript and document in less than one minute, whilst Copilot and Gemini produce content in a few minutes. If these tools get you 90% of the way to your final document, you've already reclaimed hours that would otherwise be spent manually transcribing and formatting.

Accuracy issues

Sometimes, AI can misunderstand context, or incorrectly identify speakers. These issues can compound when working with a poor quality transcript. Sometimes minor mistakes might not matter, but for critical meetings like performance reviews, client consultations, or compliance discussions, accuracy is critical. Studies of AI transcription show variable accuracy depending on audio quality and environmental conditions.

Too generic

Most AI tools produce one-size-fits-all summary documents. Generic outputs will often require significant reworking to meet documentation requirements. For example, a disciplinary hearing would need a completely different document structure than a sales proposal or team update. This is where specialised templates become essential for professional meeting minute takers.

Transcription quality

Poor transcription quality means your document is built on shaky foundations. Sometimes it is not straightforward to edit a transcript once generated. The ability to easily review and correct transcript errors becomes essential. Research comparing transcription methods shows that human transcription consistently achieves higher accuracy than AI systems, making transcript review and editing capabilities crucial for professional meeting documentation.

Choosing the right approach for meeting minutes

Each approach has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages for different types of meeting minute takers.

Manual note taking works for occasional meetings where you need basic records and have time to process them afterwards. Research suggests that handwriting may provide cognitive benefits for information processing and retention, making this approach valuable for complex discussions requiring deep understanding.

Digital tools like recording and note taking apps provide a helpful middle-ground but can be laborious for frequent meeting documentation needs. Studies show mixed results when comparing digital and handwritten approaches, suggesting that implementation quality matters more than the medium itself.

AI-powered solutions make sense when you are dealing with frequent meetings that require professional documentation. If you're regularly producing structured meeting documents for specific meeting types, the time savings and consistency offered by AI tools becomes invaluable. The key is matching the tool to the stakes involved.

For organisations handling multiple meetings per week that require standardised, professional documentation, tools like Voxxy eliminate the manual formatting work entirely whilst ensuring accuracy through superior transcription and easy editing capabilities for correcting errors.

As remote and hybrid work models continue evolving, mastering efficient meeting documentation becomes increasingly crucial for maintaining team alignment and decision quality across distributed organisations. Start by implementing 2-3 of these core strategies in your next meeting cycle, then gradually expand your documentation toolkit as your team's needs evolve.

Ready to improve your meeting documentation? Reach out to learn more about our professional meeting documentation solution: hello@voxxy.app