You know what happened in your last team meeting, right? Of course you do. Until someone asks you about that one thing Sarah mentioned about the quarterly targets, and suddenly your brain goes blank.
We live in a world where Ai can record everything. Your phone tracks your steps, your smartwatch monitors your sleep, Netflix remembers that you watched three episodes of reality TV at 2am, Yet somehow, when it comes to the most important conversations at work, we rely on scattered notes and fading memories.
Here’s what really happens : Janet from accounting brings up the budget concerns. Mark interrupts with some point about vendor contracts. Someone’s phone rings. The conversation shifts to office coffee quality for ten minutes. Actually, why do people always complain about office coffee? It’s free coffee.
Anyway. By the end, nobody knows what decisions got made or who’s doing what by when.
Your Brain Wasn’t Built for This Meeting Madness
Your memory is rubbish at meetings. Not because you’re stupid, but because human brains aren’t designed to process, retain, and organise information whilst also participating in discussions. It’s like trying to take photos whilst riding a rollercoaster, everything comes out blurry.
Most people think they’re good at multitasking. They’re wrong. When you’re trying to listen, think, respond, and remember at the same time, something’s got to give. Usually it’s the remembering part.
Sometimes I wonder if this is why so many meetings feel pointless. Everyone’s there but nobody’s really capturing what happens.
What Happens When Nobody’s Writing Anything Down
- People argue about what was decided last week
- Same topics get discussed again and again because nobody remembers they were already covered
- Action items get forgotten (obviously)
- Blame gets passed around when deadlines are missed
- Important details fall through cracks
I’ve seen teams spend entire meetings trying to work out what happened in previous meetings. It’s painful to watch. And expensive when you think about how much everyone’s getting paid to sit there reconstructing conversations.
Then Something Interesting Happens
When someone’s job is just to listen and record, everything changes. They catch the details others miss. They note down the exact wording of decisions. They track who said they’d do what and by when.
A good minute taker isn’t just scribbling notes, they’re creating a proper record. They notice when discussions go off track. They ask for clarity when things get vague. Sometimes they’re the only reason anything gets done after the meeting ends.
Think about it : you wouldn’t run a important project without documentation. Why would you run important meetings without proper records?
Actually, maybe that’s why so many projects fail. But that’s another article.
What Nobody Tells You About Having Someone Write Things Down
Having a minute taker does more than just create a nice summary document. It changes how people behave in meetings. When they know someone’s writing everything down, people think more carefully before speaking. They’re clearer about what they’re signing up for. They follow through because there’s a written record.
It’s like having a referee at a football match. The game could happen without one, but having someone whose job is to notice everything and enforce the rules makes everything run smoother.
Also, and this surprised me, minute takers often spot problems before anyone else. Because they’re not emotionally invested in the discussion, they notice when conversations go in circles or when important people aren’t contributing.
My colleague James once told me his minute taker spotted that the same three people always dominated discussions whilst others said nothing. Changed how they ran meetings after that.
Who Should Actually Be Trained To Do This Job
Not the person running the meeting. Definitely not the most junior person who gets stuck with it because nobody else wants to do it.
The best minute takers are people who :
- Can listen without needing to jump into every discussion
- Ask good questions when things get unclear
- Understand the business well enough to know what’s important
- Actually care about getting the details right
- Someone who has been Training in Minute Taking
Sometimes it’s worth bringing in someone from outside the team just for this job. Fresh eyes catch things that regular attendees miss.
Don’t pick someone who loves the sound of their own voice. That never works.
How Training Can Help Your Minutes Look Good
Forget those formal corporate templates with roman numerals and whereas clauses. Good meeting minutes are more like a clear story of what happened :
What got discussed, what got decided, who’s doing what, and when things need to happen by. That’s it.
The best minute takers l’ve worked with create documents that people actually read. They use normal English. They highlight the important bits. They make it easy to find what you’re looking for later.
Nobody wants to read a legal document about their Tuesday morning team meeting.
Just Try lt
Start small. Try having someone take proper minutes for just one meeting. See how it changes things. You’ll probably notice fewer follow up emails asking “what did we decide about…” and fewer meetings that go over old ground again.
Don’t make it complicated. The point isn’t to create perfect documents, it’s to have better meetings and better follow through.
Most teams that try this never go back. Once you experience the clarity of having proper records, the old way feels chaotic and wasteful.
Your next meeting is probably next week . Why not try it? Get Trained up on it, and watch what happens.
