Meeting Minutes and Decision Log
Parent: Writing and Documentation · Published reference · snapshot 2026-09-08 · skill technical-writing-craft/references/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log.md
↓ Facts as markdownall context files
Three distinct artifacts:
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Overview
- Three distinct artifacts: [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#overview]
- Agenda - written before the meeting. Forward-looking. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#overview]
- Minutes - written during/after. Outcomes, decisions, action items, dissent on the record. Backward-looking and durable. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#overview]
- Decision Log / ADR - written when a decision is significant enough to outlive the meeting. One decision per record, indexed, immutable once accepted. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#overview]
1. The four load-bearing fields
- Every captured decision must answer: [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#1-the-four-load-bearing-fields]
- What was decided - a single declarative sentence, not a description of the debate. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#1-the-four-load-bearing-fields]
- Why - the one or two reasons that tipped it. Trade-offs accepted. Alternatives rejected. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#1-the-four-load-bearing-fields]
- Who owns it - exactly one named person per action item. Co-ownership is no ownership. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#1-the-four-load-bearing-fields]
- When - a specific date, not "soon" or "next sprint". [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#1-the-four-load-bearing-fields]
2. Agenda vs minutes — separate documents, different tense
- Agenda items are intent ("discuss pricing tier rollout"). Minutes items are outcome ("decided to defer pricing tier rollout to Q3; revisit June 15 sync"). [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#2-agenda-vs-minutes-separate-documents-different-tense]
3. Sync vs async minutes
- Sync minutes (live meeting): Capture only what is needed to reconstruct outcomes. Skip the back-and-forth. Aim for ~10% the length of the conversation. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#3-sync-vs-async-minutes]
- Async minutes (Slack thread, Loom comment chain): The thread is the discussion. The minutes job is to write the synthesis at the top. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#3-sync-vs-async-minutes]
4. Verbatim quote vs paraphrase
- Use a verbatim quote in three cases only: [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#4-verbatim-quote-vs-paraphrase]
- On-the-record dissent [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#4-verbatim-quote-vs-paraphrase]
- A specific commitment [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#4-verbatim-quote-vs-paraphrase]
- A regulatory / legal trigger [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#4-verbatim-quote-vs-paraphrase]
- Everywhere else, paraphrase. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#4-verbatim-quote-vs-paraphrase]
5. Decisions live in a log, not in the meeting file
- Significant decisions should be extracted into a separate decision log (or ADR file) with a stable ID, indexed, and linked back to the meeting. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#5-decisions-live-in-a-log-not-in-the-meeting-file]
6. The ADR form for technical decisions
- Michael Nygard's 2011 template: Title · Status · Context · Decision · Consequences [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#6-the-adr-form-for-technical-decisions]
- Status moves through: proposed → accepted → deprecated → superseded by ADR-NNNN. ADRs are never deleted or edited substantively after acceptance - they are superseded by a new ADR that links back. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#6-the-adr-form-for-technical-decisions]
7. Capture dissent on the record
- Name the dissenter and one-sentence their objection. "Anonymous 'concerns were raised'" is useless and reads as cover. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#7-capture-dissent-on-the-record]
8. Outcome-oriented language
- Bad: "We talked about the latency issue for a while." Good: "Decided to roll back the v2.3 caching change; Priya owns rollback PR by Wed." [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#8-outcome-oriented-language]
- Every bullet should start with a verb of outcome (decided, agreed, deferred, rejected, assigned, scheduled, escalated). [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#8-outcome-oriented-language]
9. Distribute fast, freeze faster
- Minutes that go out 5 days later are minutes nobody reads. Target: same-day or next-morning. [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#9-distribute-fast-freeze-faster]
Anti-Patterns
- Transcript-as-minutes - paragraphs of "Then Bob said... then Alice responded..." [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#anti-patterns]
- Anonymous dissent ("concerns were raised") [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#anti-patterns]
- Decisions buried in the discussion [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#anti-patterns]
- Action items without an owner or date [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#anti-patterns]
- Co-owned action items - "Priya and Jordan" means neither one [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#anti-patterns]
References
- Michael Nygard, "Documenting Architecture Decisions" (2011) [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#references]
- Wrike, "Meeting minutes template with action items" [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#references]
- Atlassian Confluence, "Meeting Notes Template" [archived source: https://llms-explorer.com/sources/mdb-context-hub/meeting-minutes-and-decision-log/#references]
Where this helps
- Writing minutes for a decision-heavy meeting where the outcome matters more than the discussion — capturing what was decided, why, and who owns the resulting action, rather than transcribing the conversation. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Recording a significant technical decision that should outlive the meeting it was made in, using an ADR (Architecture Decision Record) with a stable ID rather than burying it in meeting notes. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Documenting a decision where a team member formally disagreed, so the dissent is on the record with their name and reasoning rather than smoothed into an anonymous "concerns were raised." [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Synthesizing an async discussion — a long Slack thread or Loom comment chain — into a short, distributable summary at the top, rather than expecting people to read the whole thread. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
How to apply this
- Structure every captured decision around the four load-bearing fields: what was decided as one declarative sentence, why, who owns each resulting action, and by when. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Keep agendas forward-looking ("discuss pricing tier rollout") and minutes strictly outcome-oriented ("decided to defer pricing tier rollout to Q3; revisit June 15"), never letting the two documents blur into each other. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Extract any decision significant enough to matter later into a separate, indexed decision log or ADR, using Michael Nygard's Title/Status/Context/Decision/Consequences template for technical decisions. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Distribute minutes same-day or next-morning — minutes sent five days later are minutes nobody reads. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
Common mistakes
- Writing transcript-as-minutes — paragraphs of "Then Bob said... then Alice responded..." — instead of outcome-oriented bullets that start with a verb of outcome (decided, agreed, deferred, rejected). [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Recording dissent anonymously ("concerns were raised") instead of naming the dissenter and their specific objection, which reads as cover rather than as a real record. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Burying a decision inside the discussion narrative instead of pulling it into its own clearly labeled line or, for significant decisions, a separate decision log entry. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Assigning an action item without exactly one named owner and a date — co-ownership functions as no ownership at all. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
Limitations
- Sync minutes and async minutes need different disciplines — sync minutes should compress a live meeting to roughly 10% of its length, while async minutes need a synthesis written at the top of an existing thread rather than a fresh compression. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- ADRs are meant to be immutable once accepted — a superseded decision gets a new ADR that supersedes the old one, not an edit to the original, so the decision log accumulates rather than staying tidy. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- Verbatim quotes should be reserved for only three cases — on-the-record dissent, a specific commitment, a regulatory/legal trigger — since over-using direct quotes elsewhere defeats the compression that makes minutes useful. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
- A decision log is only as reliable as the discipline to actually extract decisions into it — the model puts the responsibility on whoever writes the minutes to recognize which items are "significant enough" to promote. [source] — AI-suggested, synthesized from this pack's existing facts — not extracted from a source document.
Children
- No children recorded.