What are meeting minutes?
Updated · By Robert Breen
Meeting minutes are the official short record of a meeting: who attended, what was decided, who owns each next step and by when, and what is still open. They are not a word-for-word account; they keep only what the group needs to act on and remember.
Why it matters for a small business
Memories of a meeting drift within days. Without minutes, two people leave with different ideas of what was agreed and nobody is sure who was meant to call the repair company. Minutes settle that. They are what you point to when someone asks "did we decide that?" a month later.
AI makes minutes much faster to produce, because it can turn a long, rambling transcript into decisions and action items in seconds. It can't know what was meant but never said, though. A person who was in the room still has to check the owners and dates and fill the gaps, which is exactly the habit the free lessons teach.
In a real lesson: Summarize a Meeting Transcript with ChatGPT
The Summarize a Meeting Transcript lesson starts with the transcript Google Meet saved after the Monday team meeting at Harbor Street Bakery, a made-up bakery: four people, lots of back and forth, a few ums. You copy it into ChatGPT under a request for four things: a three-sentence summary, the decisions, the action items as a table with task, owner and due date, and open questions. The last line matters most: only use what's in the transcript, and write "Not stated" when an owner or date isn't said.
The result reads like minutes: decisions such as doubling the pumpkin rolls and capping holiday pies at sixty a day, an action items table, and open questions about the van lease and holiday counter help. Two due dates say "Not stated", because nobody said when the library quote or the oven call would happen.
You fill them in (the quote is due Wednesday, Luis calls about the oven today), then ask for a short follow-up email to the team. That email is the minutes, sent.
Try this lesson free or read the step-by-step guide.
Common confusions
Minutes vs transcript
A meeting transcript is every word said, with timestamps. Minutes keep only decisions, owners, dates and open items. The transcript is the raw material.
Minutes vs summary
A summary tells the story of the meeting in a few sentences. Minutes are a record to act on, organized around action items and decisions.
Tips
- Ask the AI to write "Not stated" instead of guessing owners and dates.
- Send minutes the same day, while people can still correct them.
- For a board, association or other formal body whose minutes are an official record, follow your bylaws and have the chair or secretary approve them.
Related terms
Where you use it: free lessons
- Summarize a Meeting Transcript with ChatGPT (ChatGPT, 9 min)
- Turn a Client Meeting into Action Items and a Follow-Up Email (Accounting Firms) (ChatGPT, 9 min)
- Turn an Interview Debrief into a Scorecard and a Candidate Follow-Up (Recruiting & HR) (ChatGPT, 9 min)
More free tutorials
Frequently asked questions
- Can ChatGPT write meeting minutes?
- Yes, from a transcript or notes. Ask for decisions, action items with owner and due date, and open questions, tell it to write "Not stated" when something is missing, and check the result before you send it.
- What should meeting minutes include?
- The date and attendees, the decisions made, each action item with an owner and due date, and any open questions or items for next time.