Minutes of Meeting (MOM) format: template, example and how to write it

Minutes of meeting, usually shortened to MOM, are the written record of what a meeting decided and who will do what next. Good MOM is short, specific and sent the same day. Bad MOM is a page of everything anyone said, sent a week later, that nobody reads.

This guide gives you a MOM format you can copy, a filled-in example, and a simple way to write minutes of meeting quickly, whether it was a client call on Zoom, a review on Google Meet or a meeting around a table.

What are minutes of meeting (MOM)?

Minutes of meeting are an official summary of a meeting. They record the decisions that were made, the action items that were agreed, who owns each one and by when. They are not a transcript. A transcript is every word; MOM is only what matters afterwards.

Teams use MOM to keep everyone aligned, to remind people of their tasks, to update people who could not attend, and to have a record to refer back to when someone asks, weeks later, "what did we agree?"

What to include in MOM

Every good minutes of meeting document has the same eight parts:

1. Meeting title, for example "Weekly sales review" or "Project kickoff with Acme".
2. Date, time and place, or the platform: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or an office room.
3. Attendees, and anyone who was invited but absent.
4. Agenda: the topics the meeting was called for.
5. Discussion summary: two or three lines per topic, no more.
6. Decisions: what was agreed, written as a clear statement.
7. Action items: each task with an owner and a due date.
8. Next meeting: the date, if one was fixed.

If you only have time for two parts, write the decisions and the action items. They are the reason minutes exist.

MOM format (copy this template)

Use this minutes of meeting template for almost any meeting. Copy it into an email, Word, Google Docs or Notion.

MOM example

Here is the same format filled in for a real-looking weekly review. Notice how short each part is.

MOM format for different meetings

The eight parts stay the same. What changes is how much detail each part needs.

Running the meeting on Microsoft Teams? Our Teams meeting minutes template adds the parts a Teams call needs, like the recording link and decisions agreed in the chat.

How to write minutes of meeting, step by step

1. Prepare the format before the meeting

Fill in the title, date, attendees and agenda in advance. During the meeting you then only add discussion, decisions and actions.

2. Listen for decisions and commitments, not words

You do not need to write down every sentence. Note the moment something is agreed ("so we go with three plans") and the moment someone takes on a task ("I'll send the estimate by Thursday").

3. Give every action item an owner and a date

"Follow up with Acme" is not an action item. "Priya sends Acme the revised estimate by Thursday" is. If nobody owns a task, write "owner needed" so it is visible.

4. Write it the same day

Minutes written within a few hours are accurate. Minutes written three days later are guesses. Aim to send them before the end of the day.

5. Keep it to one page

If the discussion summary is longer than the decisions and action items combined, cut it down.

6. Share it where people will see it

Email, the team chat or your project tool. Ask attendees to reply within a day if something is wrong, then treat the minutes as final.

Common MOM mistakes

• Writing a transcript. Nobody reads it. Summarise.
• Vague action items. No owner and no date means it will not happen.
• Mixing opinions with decisions. Record what was agreed, not what one person argued.
• Sending it late. The value of minutes drops every day they are not sent.
• Missing the "why". One line on why a decision was made saves the same debate next month.

MOM vs meeting notes: what is the difference?

Meeting notes are informal: whatever you jot down to help yourself remember. Minutes of meeting are formal and shared: a record the whole team agrees on, with decisions and owners. You can turn notes into MOM by pulling out the decisions and action items and putting them in the format above.

Write MOM automatically with an AI meeting notetaker

Taking minutes by hand means half-listening to your own meeting. An AI meeting notetaker records the meeting and writes the minutes for you, so you can take part.

Zrec records Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and in-person meetings from your computer, with no bot joining the call. After the meeting it writes the minutes in this format: summary, decisions, and action items with owners and due dates. Each decision links to the exact moment it was said, so anyone can check it, and meetings in Hindi or Hinglish get their minutes in English.

More on writing good minutes: how to take minutes of meeting and send the MOM email, how MOM differs from meeting notes, and turning decisions into action items that get done. Handling meetings in Hindi or Hinglish? See how to record Hinglish meetings in English. Need the minutes themselves in Hindi? Copy the minutes of meeting format in Hindi. Running a housing society? Use the RWA and society meeting minutes format. The plans and pricing are listed in rupees. Want to skip the blank page? Try our free MOM generator. Already recorded the call? See how to get MOM from a Zoom recording and its transcript, a Microsoft Teams meeting or a Google Meet call.

Tip: even with an AI notetaker, read the minutes once before you send them. It takes a minute and catches the one name or date that matters most.