JOB AID: Notes Template for ECC Meetings

Authored by Kristin Thiel, Kerns NET, March 2024

Before Meeting

• Confirm with supervisor or meeting convener what roles/titles are useful to include with names in attendance. This is particularly important during an activation when attendees will have task force roles and regular roles outside the task force (e.g. Ronnie Mompellier's title outside of the activation is "Duty Officer", but in the context of the response she is "BES Liaison"). So, which title/role, or both, should be included in the notes?
• Confirm with supervisor the planned organization of the Executive Summary for the notes (see template below).
• Create a new notes document for the meeting: either from a preexisting template if the agency has one, or the starter template below).
• If an agenda is available ahead of the meeting, use that to structure the Detail section.
• Request a list of invitees from a supervisor. That list will help clarify name spellings later and make it easier to provide a complete list of attendees.
• Use a font that is easy to read for screen. Preferred is Arial 12 pt. Use single spacing and bulleted lists.

During Meeting

• Log into the meeting and add attendee names as they appear.
• Capture concepts: decisions and decision points, to-do's, questions/parking lot topics, and kudos. You do not have to write every word or record who said what (unless that is important to the context of what is said).
• It is appropriate to say: "For the notes, could you please clarify if there was a decision or follow-up in this conversation?"

As Meeting Ends

• Copy and paste the chat log into the notes. The raw chat log will not stay in the notes, but it is useful during notes cleanup.
• Check spelling of names and complete roles. Reference the agency/task force and meeting invitation lists to do so.
• Decide if points made throughout the meeting can be reasonably combined by their concepts.
• Include key info from the chat transcript in the meeting minutes in the appropriate locations. Delete the rest of the copied chat transcript.
• Place key points from the meeting, color coded, in the Executive Summary.
• Keep the minutes clear and as brief as possible.
• When the meeting notes are complete, name the file using the following naming convention: yyyymmdd_group/task force name_meeting name.

Basic Meeting Notes Template

NOTES HEADER - put in the following lines at the top of the notes, in this order:

• Draft status: status of the notes (e.g. in process, pending review, final, etc)

• Group/Task Force Name
• Name of Meeting - Meeting Notes
• Date-Time (use 24 hour convention)

Instructions: Leave this color key in the notes for the reader.

• Follow-up: highlighted in yellow
• Decisions and key reminders: highlighted in purple
• Questions and parking lot topics: highlighted in blue
• Kudos: highlighted in gray

Attendees: Instructions: First Last (role, agency); First Last (role, agency); First Last (role, agency); First Last (role, agency); First Last (role, agency); First Last (role, agency); etc.

Executive Summary Instructions: Place key points from the meeting here; color-code in the Exec Summary only.

Detail: Instructions: organizing by the agenda is a good idea.