Meeting summary: template, example and tips
A meeting summary tells someone who missed the meeting what happened, in about two minutes of reading. It is shorter than minutes and less formal.
Good uses for a summary
- A colleague, manager or client missed the meeting and needs to catch up.
- You post a short update in a team chat or project channel after a weekly check-in.
- You want a record for yourself, but formal minutes would be too much.
A summary is the wrong choice when people will argue later about who promised what. For that, use action items and decisions or formal minutes.
Worked example
This is an invented meeting at an invented company. The names are made up.
Example transcript, first lines
Priya: OK, let's start. This is the weekly check-in for the website relaunch. Tom, where are we on checkout?
Tom: The new checkout works in testing. Card payments are fine. Gift cards still fail about one time in ten.
Lena: If gift cards break, we can't run the June promotion. That promotion is built on gift cards.
Priya: Then launch day moves from 2 June to 16 June. I'd rather be late than broken.
… 28 more minutes …
Summary
Northfield Books: website relaunch check-in, 12 May
What it was about: The weekly check-in on the new website, with a focus on whether the 2 June launch date still holds.
Key points
- The new checkout works in testing for card payments. Gift card payments still fail about 1 time in 10.
- The June promotion depends on gift cards, so it cannot run until the fault is fixed.
- The team agreed to move the launch from 2 June to 16 June rather than launch with a known fault.
- Customer service asked for two weeks' notice to update the help pages. The new date gives them that.
- Search on the new site is slower than on the old one on phones. Tom thinks image sizes are the cause.
- The old website stays live until the new one has run for one full week without problems.
Next
Tom fixes the gift card fault and checks phone speed before next Tuesday's check-in. Lena moves the promotion to start on 16 June.
Notice what the summary leaves out: side talk, who spoke first, and the details of the fault. A reader who wants those can ask or read the minutes.
Summary template
Copy this and fill in the parts in square brackets.
[Team or project]: [meeting name], [date] What it was about: [One sentence. What the meeting was for, and the main question.] Key points 1. [First topic, in the order it came up. One or two sentences.] 2. [Include numbers and dates exactly as said.] 3. [Say what was decided, if anything.] 4. [Say what is still open.] 5. [Keep to 5 to 8 points.] Next [Who does what next, and when. Two lines at most.]
Writing tips
- Keep it under 250 words. If it runs longer, the reader needs minutes, not a summary.
- Follow the order of the meeting. It makes the summary easy to check against the recording.
- Put the decision in the point, not at the end. "Launch moves to 16 June" is better than "Launch date was discussed".
- Copy numbers exactly. Write "1 time in 10", not "sometimes". Check every number and date against the transcript.
- Leave out side talk. Jokes, technical detours and repeated points do not belong in a summary.
- Send it the same day. A summary is most useful while people still remember the meeting.
- Say when something was unclear. "No date was agreed" is more honest and more useful than a guess.
Summary vs minutes
| Summary | Minutes | |
|---|---|---|
| Reader | Someone who missed it | Everyone, including future readers |
| Length | 150 to 250 words | One to three pages |
| Order | Time order, main points only | By agenda item |
| Attendees listed | No | Yes |
| Action owners and dates | Briefly, under "Next" | In a full table |
A summary from your own transcript
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