Meeting minutes

Ivar Føreland

Anyone with experience how to manage meeting minutes in a good way using Smartsheet?

Elena Bachvarova

As a rule of thumb, the more you think upfront on how to adapt your sheet to your environment, the better value you can drive out from the solution. Also, process and ownership are key to making it effective. 

I use Smartsheet to manage a meeting, and I've found it a very powerful tool, especially when asking for updates on actions using 'update requests'. 

Guidance from personal experience is that less is more, and ability to search and track progress is essential. For example, we record actions, decisions, and maters for noting (we clearly mark the type), and ensure that each action has an owner who is responsible for proving an update on progress. We also use one sheet to record the minutes from every meeting, with a 'meeting date' and line reference field for each line item. 

There is a dedicated minute-taker who ensures that a consistent terminology (and where applicable reference numbers) is used in a way that ensures effective search. Everyone else who needs to see the minutes has viewing access. 

 

Patrick Galvin

Are you able to share a sample of the structure as I am intrigued by how this could be used. 

Elena Bachvarova

Here's a quick example. I also use some conditional formatting for better visibility, and filters to search. 

 

Patrick Galvin

awesome - thanks Elena

MattRickett

I'm also looking to use for meeting minutes. Has anyone made use of cell linking or alternative to try and carry items over to a new sheet (for the next meeting?)

Thanks

Andrée Starå

Hi Matt,

I've created a solution for a client to handle board meetings and there are also a few templates in the Solution Center (Meeting Agenda, Attendance & Follow Up, Meeting Action Items Tracker).

There is also a Template Set called Meeting Management (access depends on your Smartsheet plan)

Have you looked inside the Solution Center?

Hope that helps!

Have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting