6 TIPS to capture actions and decisions from meetings

I know that the redaction of minutes is painful as it takes time and energy that often we do not have! So here are some quick tips of how I've been documenting them. 

There are no purpose to do a meeting if the action items and decisions are not captured & communicated! 

The tips below are mostly applicable for large scale programs/ but can be adapted to smaller project

1. Make sure that you write down the action items and decisions during the meeting/ type them directly into an issue log and a KDP (key decision point) log in excel or in your central log repository (Sharepoint or so)
• The issue log needs to contains all issues identified as well as the actions agreed to resolve the issue, it needs to include the level of critically of the issue, its impact, the description of the action, the responsible for the action item as well as the target date
• The KDP will contain decisions taken! You ensure that decisions taken are taken by people that are accountable for taking the decision, confirm the wording of the decision with decision maker and right it down!
2. Not more than 24 hours after the meeting, you send an e-mail summarising the new actions and the new decisions to everybody that was invited to the meeting (including the ones that were not there). Ideally you do a cut and paste of the new actions and new decisions from you excel file. When sending the note, you can add your administrative assistant or the individual responsible to update the central logs (if you did not do it during the meeting). Always use the same exact header to communicate the actions and decisions. I use : MEETING TYPE - DATE - Actions and decisions. For example: WORKING COMMITTEE - 02/18/2010 - Actions and decisions. 
3. Prior to the next meeting, make sure that you send a newer version of the issue log and decisions to participants - you can ask your PCO or administrative assistant to do so. Ask your team if they need to add new action items or decisions points to the meeting - - - you want to be aware before the meeting so that you can be more prepared. 
4. Start your meeting by following-up on the actions that are due for this meeting and shortly and those are are critical. Then discuss the new actions and new decisions points.
5. Always keep the same routine and structure, people will become more productive in your meeting and will less tend to jump in right and left.... 
6. CONTROL your agenda and use parking lot when necessary and not applicable to the objective of this meeting.

 Voilà, hope this helps!!!!!