Working life and HR
Template: minutes from a leadership meeting
A minute template for the leadership team's standing meeting, with decisions, what was decided not to do, and a field for what gets communicated onward and by whom.
MINUTES: LEADERSHIP MEETING
[date], [__.__]–[__.__] | [place or meeting format]
PRESENT
[Name], [role]
[Name], [role]
Absent: [Name]
FOLLOW-UP FROM THE LAST MEETING
- [Matter]: [status]
DECISIONS
1. [What was decided, phrased so that somebody who was not present
can act on it]
2. [...]
DECIDED NOT TO DO
- [Matter]: [no, and why. This stops the matter coming up again in
three weeks as if nothing had happened.]
TASKS
| # | Task | Owner | Due |
|---|------|-------|-----|
| 1 | | | |
COMMUNICATED ONWARD
| What | To whom | By whom | When |
|------|---------|---------|------|
| | | | |
CONFIDENTIAL
[Matters not shared onward. Keep them gathered here, so that the rest of
the minutes can go out without editing.]
NEXT MEETING
[date, time]
Minutes taken by: [name]How to use it
- “Communicated onward” is the most important table. A decision that does not reach the people who have to act on it has not been taken. Put a name and a date, not “we will inform”.
- Write down the noes. Matters without a documented refusal always come back, and then the discussion starts over.
- Keep confidential matters together. Then the rest of the minutes can go out as they are, instead of sitting because somebody has to cut them first.
- Separate decision from discussion. Leadership teams discuss a lot and decide little. The minutes make the difference visible, which is uncomfortable and useful.
When the leadership team takes the same matter three times
It is nearly always because it has not been written down who decides. Put one name per decision, even when the group agrees.
Frequently asked questions
Decisions, tasks with owner and deadline, and what is to be communicated onward to the organisation and by whom. The last item is the one most often missing, and the reason decisions stop inside the leadership team.
Share what concerns them, and say who does it. Some matters are confidential, and then the minutes should have a section of their own for those. Minutes that cannot be shared at all are usually written without anyone thinking about who was supposed to act on them.
Write down what was decided not to do, and why. Matters without a documented no always come back, and then the discussion starts over.