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Templates / General templates

Meeting summary and recap

Meeting summary template

A meeting summary, or recap, is the short message you send after a meeting so the people who were there agree on the outcome and the people who weren't can act on it. Open with two or three sentences on what was decided, then list the decisions, action items with one owner and a date, open questions, and anything postponed. Send it the same day.

Best forAnyone who runs a meeting and sends the follow-up

LengthReadable in under two minutes

SectionsSubject line, summary, decisions, action items, open questions, postponed, next meeting

FormatsEmail, Google Docs, Word, Notion, Markdown

Word Markdown

Meeting summary.docx

Meeting summary

SubjectRecap: [meeting], [main outcome]Meeting Date Attendees Sent toAttendees, plus anyone who owns an item or is affectedSent by

Summary

Two or three sentences: what was decided and what happens next

Decisions

Decision, and what it replaces if anything

Action items

Item	Owner	Due	Done looks like

Open questions

Question	Who answers	By when
	Name, or "no owner yet"

Postponed or not covered

Item, and where it goes next

Next meeting

Date, time, what it will cover

Word MarkdownPastes into Google Docs, Word or Notion with headings and tables intact.

Kestrel Property Management, tenant portal switch recap

Filled-in example

Kestrel Property Management, tenant portal switch recap

SubjectRecap: tenant portal switch, two buildings go live Nov 30MeetingTenant portal planningDateThursday, October 22, 2026, 45 minAttendeesLorraine Hughes (operations director), Victor Nunez (accounting lead), Aimee Chao (resident services), Pat Shelby (IT contractor)Sent toAttendees, plus the six building managersSent byAimee Chao, Oct 22, 4:30 pm

Summary

Rent payments and maintenance requests move to the new tenant portal. Linden Court and 410 Mercer go live on Monday, Nov 30, and the other four buildings follow in January if the first month goes well. Paper checks and phone requests are still accepted everywhere.

Decisions

Linden Court and 410 Mercer go live Nov 30. The January date for the other four buildings is set at the Dec 17 meeting.
Paper checks stay accepted at all buildings until at least March 1, 2027.
Maintenance requests by phone stay open. This replaces the Oct 8 plan to stop phone requests at go-live.
Residents at the two buildings get a letter by Nov 9 and an email on Nov 23.

Action items

Item	Owner	Due	Done looks like
Draft the resident letter and email	Aimee	Nov 4	Both approved by Lorraine
Test card and bank payments with three staff accounts	Pat	Nov 13	Six test payments posted and refunded
Load November balances for both buildings	Victor	Nov 20	Every unit's balance matches the current system
Post lobby notices at Linden Court	Gary Fenn (building manager)	Nov 9	Notice up in the lobby and mailroom

Open questions

Question	Who answers	By when
Does the portal charge residents a card fee, and how much?	Victor, with the vendor	Oct 29
Can residents already on bank autopay be moved over, or do they sign up again? Vendor said "probably" on the call.	Pat	Nov 2
Who answers resident portal questions on weekends?	No owner yet	Before Nov 30

Postponed or not covered

Late fee policy changes. Moved to the Dec 17 meeting.
Spanish versions of the letter and email. Not reached. Aimee will raise it at the Nov 17 check-in.

Next meeting

Check-in call Tuesday, Nov 17, 10:00 am, 30 min: test results and resident notices. Full review Thursday, Dec 17, 10:00 am.

Kestrel Property Management, its buildings and everyone in this example are a fictional sample.

Best forAnyone who runs a meeting and sends the follow-up

LengthReadable in under two minutes

SectionsSubject line, summary, decisions, action items, open questions, postponed, next meeting

FormatsEmail, Google Docs, Word, Notion, Markdown

What to write in each section

Subject line

Name the meeting and the main outcome, so people can tell from their inbox whether they need to open it. The follow-up email templates show this for a team, a client and someone who missed the meeting.

"Recap: tenant portal switch, two buildings go live Nov 30" beats "Notes from today."

Summary

Two or three sentences someone who missed the meeting could act on. Lead with the result, not with who attended or what was discussed first.

"Linden Court and 410 Mercer move to the new tenant portal on Monday, Nov 30. Paper checks and phone requests are still accepted everywhere." If that is all most readers need, send the short email and keep the full recap as notes.

Decisions

One full sentence per decision that makes sense on its own. If a decision replaces an earlier plan, say which one, or people will follow the old version.

Action items

One owner, a due date and what done looks like. Name people outside the meeting if they own an item, and make sure they're on the send list. If items run across several meetings, copy them into an action items tracker.

Open questions

Anything that needs an answer before work can move, with who answers it and by when. Include anything someone said "probably" or "I think so" about.

Postponed or not covered

Agenda items you didn't reach. Saying so stops people assuming they were settled.

When to use this template

Half the people who need the outcome weren't in the meeting.
Your post-meeting notes are a page of raw bullets that nobody reads to the end.
A manager or client asked for a meeting report and you need a clean structure for it.

Questions people ask

How soon should I send a meeting summary?: The same day, ideally within a couple of hours while everyone still remembers. For an evening meeting, send it first thing the next morning. The longer it waits, the more people act on their own version of what was agreed.
What is the difference between a meeting summary and a meeting report?: A summary is short, goes to attendees and anyone affected, and is sent the same day. A meeting report is a longer document for a manager, client or funder, with background, data and attachments, and it can cover several meetings. The summary structure on this page works as the core of a report.
Should a meeting recap say who said what?: Usually not. Name people for action items, open questions and approvals that matter, like a client signing off. Leaving out who argued for what keeps the recap short and avoids reopening the debate by email.

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Meeting summary template

Summary

Decisions

Action items

Open questions

Postponed or not covered

Next meeting

Next steps

Still open

Summary

Decisions

Action items

Open questions

Postponed or not covered

Next meeting

When to use this template

Questions people ask

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