During a planning meeting, team members discuss goals, timelines, and responsibilities for upcoming projects. They collaborate to create a detailed plan of action to ensure successful execution.

Taking notes during a planning meeting is important to capture key decisions, action items, and any potential roadblocks. These notes are typically used to create meeting minutes or action plans, which are then distributed to all team members for reference and accountability.

Good planning meeting notes should be clear, concise, and organized, capturing key decisions, action items, and deadlines discussed during the meeting.

1. Understand the purpose and objectives of the meeting to ensure you capture relevant information.

2. Familiarize yourself with the agenda and key discussion points in advance.

3. Use a structured format for note-taking, such as bullet points or headings, to organize information effectively.

4. Focus on capturing key decisions, action items, and deadlines discussed during the meeting.

5. Be an active listener and ask clarifying questions when needed to ensure accurate note-taking.

Planning meeting notes: Key items

• Meeting date and time: It is important to record the date and time of the meeting to ensure all participants are aware and can attend.

• Attendees: Listing all attendees is crucial for accountability and ensuring everyone who needs to be present is included.

• Agenda items: Documenting the agenda items helps keep the meeting focused and on track, ensuring all important topics are covered.

• Action items: Recording action items assigned to specific individuals helps track progress and hold team members accountable for their responsibilities.

• Deadlines: Noting deadlines for action items or follow-up tasks ensures timely completion and keeps the project moving forward.

• Decisions made: Documenting decisions made during the meeting helps prevent misunderstandings and provides a reference point for future discussions.

• Next steps: Outlining next steps or follow-up actions helps ensure continuity and progress after the meeting has concluded.

• Any issues or roadblocks: Recording any issues or roadblocks discussed during the meeting helps identify potential obstacles and develop strategies to overcome them.

• Follow-up items: Documenting any follow-up items or tasks that need to be addressed after the meeting helps ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Common mistakes in taking planning meeting notes (and how to avoid them)

• Not capturing all important points: Failing to document key discussions can result in incomplete or inaccurate notes.

• Lack of organization: Disorganized notes make it difficult to reference or follow up on action items.

• Poor handwriting or formatting: Illegible handwriting or messy formatting can make it challenging for others to read and understand the notes.

• Failing to assign action items: Forgetting to assign tasks to specific individuals can result in important responsibilities being overlooked.

• Not summarizing key decisions: Neglecting to highlight key outcomes can cause confusion later.

• Overloading notes with unnecessary details: Too much irrelevant information makes it harder to identify key takeaways.

• Not reviewing and revising notes: Skipping a review after the meeting can lead to errors or missing details.

Avoid these mistakes:

• Automatically capture all important points discussed during the meeting using Circleback’s AI-powered platform.

• Organize notes in a clear and logical manner with Circleback’s automatic note-taking and organization capabilities.

• Ensure legible and well-formatted notes with Circleback’s automated note-writing feature.

• Automatically assign action items to specific individuals based on the discussion.

• Summarize key decisions and outcomes of the meeting with Circleback’s note-sharing capabilities.

How do we make sure that follow ups for my planning meeting actually happen?

After a planning meeting, follow-ups may include assigning tasks to team members, setting deadlines for completion, and scheduling progress check-ins to ensure the plan is being executed effectively. Additionally, follow-ups may involve gathering feedback from stakeholders, adjusting the plan as needed, and communicating updates to all relevant parties.

Here’s how Circleback can help automate follow-ups:

• Automatically send meeting notes and action items to all meeting invitees via email.

• Integrate with Zapier to create a workflow that updates a shared Google Sheet with meeting summaries and action items.

• Send meeting data to a designated HTTP endpoint that triggers a workflow in a project management tool like Asana or Trello.

• Update HubSpot deals and contacts with any new information or action items discussed during the meeting.

• Automatically update a Notion page or database with meeting notes, action items, and key insights for easy reference and tracking.