Who is the most underrated person in the room? Often the one who takes the notes.

Over the years, I’ve tweaked my approach to meeting minutes after running hundreds of executive team meetings and feel like I’ve finally got the hang of it.

The note taker is critical in that they play historian, documenting key takeaways and assigning next steps that shape the company’s decision making process. This is an underrated superpower and as such how you do it matters more than people think.

While a basic bulleted outline works, having a more uniform framework can be even more effective at driving alignment as it creates clarity, consistency and accountability.

Here’s how I like to keep notes for recurring executive meetings:

1. Set the page to landscape (sideways) so that you maximize room on each line
2. Create a table with four columns: date, agenda, key takeaways and next steps
3. Change the background color top row and bold the font
4. On row two, include an example template so the font, bullets, etc
5. On row three, input the meeting date, agenda items, key takeaways and next steps
6. Agenda items can list the topic and optionally the presenter
7. Key takeaways should include key takeaways so that folks who miss can catch up and folks in the meeting can refer back at a later date
8. Any additional sources can be linked to from this section
9. In the action items, list any next steps as a SMART ask detailing who will do exactly what by when
10. If you use Google Docs, you can “tag” or assign next steps to the right person

Here’s an example template which you are welcome to copy/modify: