You and your team members might participate in a half dozen or more meetings in any given week. Creating a summary of each session can help participants remember everything discussed and what action steps they will take next. This guide will show you how to write a meeting summary, with some tips on making your notes more effective.
What Is a Meeting Summary?
A meeting summary is simply a quick recap of the conversation during a meeting or business conference. Meeting summaries provide participants with a reminder of what the meeting was about, as well as details such as:
- Project updates
- Upcoming deadlines
- Assignments that were given
- Goals for future meetings
Summaries are generally brief and might be sent in a memo or email shortly after the meeting concludes.
Meeting Summary vs. Meeting Minutes
Formal meetings may involve “minutes,” a proper and complete record of what occurred during the session. Minutes will include a list of attendees, absentees, the meeting agenda, and details on all agenda items. They typically begin with a request to approve the previous meeting’s minutes.
A meeting summary, on the other hand, is simply an informal synopsis of the meeting and reminds participants of what took place.
Meeting Summary Example
It may help to look at a sample recap of a meeting to understand what a typical summary includes. Here is a typical meeting recap example:
Subject: Web design project meeting, June 3, 2023
Greetings, project team!
In our June 3 meeting, we discussed the upcoming web development project we’re working on for our new client, Finance Pros. During the meeting, we discussed the following:
- The sitemap for the forthcoming web page
- How to integrate the client’s brand into the design
- Ways to develop content for the client’s blog section
The discussion yielded several action items, including:
- Janice will work on developing models of crucial web pages (June 15)
- Tyler will work with the client on developing their brand (June 18)
- Jesse will discuss possible blog topics with the client (June 12)
Our next meeting will take place on June 24, when we’ll review our progress and take the following steps. Contact me if you have any questions.
In the above example, notice that most critical information comes in bullet points, making it easy for recipients to quickly scan, read, and digest the meeting’s content and their respective assignments.
The Importance of Summarizing Meetings
If you’re already creating official minutes after each meeting, why bother providing a meeting summary? Knowing how to write a summary of a meeting is essential for keeping your teams on the same page. Here are some reasons you might rely on meeting summaries in your organization.
Promote Accountability
A meeting summary will document a project’s timeline and the responsibilities of the meeting participants. Employees know what’s expected of them and are more fully engaged when they have a clear goal and deadline.
Stay on the Same Page
Meeting recaps can also keep your team on the same page when collaborating on significant projects. That is especially helpful for remote or hybrid teams who don’t have the luxury of stopping by one another’s office for future clarifications. A summary can remind everyone of the team’s goals and what to expect in the immediate future.
Never Miss a Thing
Even if you take notes of your own during a meeting, it’s possible that some items simply slip your mind. Having a summary of conference calls and meetings can ensure that you have a record of everything discussed and don’t neglect any necessary details.
Track Progress
Project meetings commonly involve updates and reports from team members. Therefore, the summaries of these meetings form a historical record of the project’s development, helping managers track progress and ensure they’re hitting the right benchmarks.
Respect Everyone’s Time
Some entrepreneurs schedule multiple team meetings to ensure that everyone is working at their best pace. But these meetings can eat up company time, and employees may resent this level of micromanagement. You can accomplish more by having fewer meetings and relying on meeting summaries to provide all the guidance your employees need to achieve their goals.
Provide Legal Record
Meeting summaries are not formal legal documents, but they may still provide essential legal protection if your company becomes involved in a dispute.
For example, meeting recaps may provide evidence of a client’s instructions and your team’s commitment to executing those instructions. That can help you clarify any confusion or disagreement with a client and shield you from claims that you have been delinquent in following through with their instructions.
How to Write a Meeting Summary
With these benefits in mind, it’s time to learn how to write a summary of a meeting.
Here’s a tip: use the following steps to create and save a “summary of meeting” template to help you generate future summaries more efficiently.
1. Come to the Meeting Prepared
Before you even come to the meeting, take some time to familiarize yourself with the subject of discussion. Review the minutes or summaries from previous meetings when possible to bring yourself up to speed. And if the forum is open to the public, create a sign-in sheet to accurately record who was present.
2. Take Detailed Notes
During the meeting itself, make sure to take detailed notes. Focus on the primary subject matter of the meeting, but make sure to identify any decisions that were made. Remember to record who is responsible for any action items that emerged from the discussion and record the dates of project deadlines and future meetings.
3. Get Organized
After the meeting concludes, review your notes immediately so nothing slips from your memory. You’ll likely want to condense your notes into a shorter summary that will be easier to digest. Try reducing your summary to a few sentences and supporting bullet points. Don’t omit anything substantial, but the more you can condense your summary, the easier it will be for everyone to read quickly and refer back to when needed.
4. Start Your Summary with a Thank-You
It may sound simple, but it always helps to begin the summary on a positive note. Thank everyone in the meeting who participated. You can also include a note of gratitude for anyone who made a presentation or shared important information during the meeting. It’s always helpful to start by acknowledging everyone’s hard work.
5. Start with the Most Important Issues
Begin by summarizing the most relevant issues from the meeting. Very often, these issues frame the objectives of the meeting, and any decisions made will be a reflection of these issues. Try to keep your synopsis to a few sentences so readers can quickly skim your summary for the most critical information.
6. Highlight Action Items
Highlight any decisions and action items that arose during the meeting or conference call. Identify the names of any employees responsible for these items, and include any dates or deadlines. These are best summarized in bullet form, which makes them easier to read.
7. Identify Agreements
Some meetings will yield agreements between employees or your company and a client. Include the names of any parties involved in these agreements and what the next steps might include.
8. Include Any Supporting Documents
A meeting summary can also include any supporting documents, which might include:
- Past meeting minutes
- Purchase orders
- Contracts
- Project overviews and instructions
You might also include relevant blogs or articles that contain information pertinent to the discussion or instructions that will guide team members on their portion of a project.
9. Close with a Reminder of Future Meetings
In all likelihood, there will be a future meeting. Include the date, time, and location and who is expected to attend. That will also provide clear guidance on how long employees have to complete their assignments and action items.
10. Edit and Send Your Meeting Summary
Once you complete your summary of the meeting, give it a quick review. Proofread for spelling and grammatical errors, and double-check the information against your notes to ensure total accuracy. Once you’ve completed your final edits, you can send the meeting summary as an office memo or email.
How Transcription Simplifies Meeting Summaries
Creating a meeting overview isn’t difficult, though it demands careful attention to detail. And that level of engagement can make it hard to participate in a meeting and take notes simultaneously.
Transcription can make creating meeting summaries easier for you and your team. Instead of assigning a team member to take copious notes, you can simply record your meeting and use a service like Sonix to convert the audio into written text.
By using sophisticated, AI-powered technology, Sonix transcription software can even perform complex tasks such as:
- Identifying speakers
- Transcribing industry jargon
- Creating word-by-word timestamps
Not only are the results lightning fast, but a transcript will invariably be more accurate than taking notes by hand. You can even add notes or comments to the completed transcript to clarify specific points or give yourself or your team additional reminders.
So when preparing your meeting recap, you can refer to the automatically-generated transcript and highlight key pieces of data. In fact, a transcript is so thorough that you can complete a summary without even attending the meeting. That allows your meeting participants to achieve maximum productivity without the distraction of taking notes throughout the duration.
Use Transcription Services to Create Meeting Summaries with Sonix
Writing a meeting summary requires capturing the key points, decisions, and actions that took place during the meeting. Now that you know how to write a meeting summary, take it to the next level with Sonix.
We provide cutting-edge tools and support to help you transcribe audio files from phone calls, video conferences, or company meeting recordings. In fact, we are often reviewed as the world’s best automatic transcription software.
The results speak for themselves. You’ll achieve fast, accurate transcripts that you can depend on for maintaining records of your meetings and providing working summaries for all of the participants.
To see these features in action, sign up for a free trial. You’ll receive 30 minutes of transcription absolutely free, letting you discover the cutting edge that Sonix can give you.
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