During a Zoom team meeting or client call, it’s easy to focus so much on your Zoom screen that you don’t take notes. After all, keeping Zoom at half-screen and a notes app in the other half of your screen is pretty annoying. But without notes, you might forget the fine details of what was discussed. With the right app, though, you can take notes in Zoom – and there’s a right way to do that. Read on to learn how to take notes on a Zoom meeting. 

• How to take notes on a Zoom meeting 
• Tips on taking meeting notes 

How to take notes on a Zoom meeting 

Taking notes on a Zoom meeting can be the make-or-break factor as to whether you remember it well afterward. Here’s how to take notes on a Zoom meeting the right way. 

• Prepare ahead of time
• Use meeting notes software 
• Write down action items, facts, and questions
• Record talking points for future meetings 

1Prepare ahead of time 

Before you begin your Zoom meeting, there are a few things you should write down so you don’t lose time during the meeting. These include:

• Ideas. Is there anything in particular you’d like to share during the meeting? If so, jot these ideas down so you don’t forget them.
  
• Prepare a meeting agenda. Your meeting agenda will list the talking points and previous meeting action items you’ll go over during your Zoom. It should be a clear outline of what’ll happen during the meeting, whose talking points are whose, and the duration of each talking point. 
  
• Date and time. Choose a date and time for your meeting that works well for everyone in the room. That could be the start of your workday or mid-afternoon. As long as it’s during work hours and it gets everyone on the Zoom, it’s a good date and time.
  
• Meeting participants. When deciding who should be at your meetings, you should only invite people who need to be there. This way, you show that you value your team’s time – and also, there can be too many people in a meeting. For example, it wouldn’t make much sense to invite Brad from the software department to a meeting with your accounting team.

2Use meeting notes software 

To run a more successful and organized meeting, you’ll want to use a meeting notes software platform that integrates with Zoom. This way, taking meeting notes literally happens in Zoom. For example, Fellow integrates with Zoom and Google Calendar to bring all your meeting agendas into one place. This way, during your Zoom, you and everyone else can view your meeting agenda and add notes right to it. No more constantly clicking in and out of your call to take notes!

To join your Zoom call from Fellow, click “Join Conference,” then “Join Zoom Conference” at the top of your meeting agenda in Fellow. Then, to pull up your agenda and take notes during the Zoom meeting, click “Apps” in the navigation bar in your Zoom call. Click “Fellow” to pop open the app panel in the call. This way, you can add talking points and meeting action items in real-time right from Zoom. 

3Write down action items, facts, and questions

Once the meeting begins, you can use your meeting agenda to jot down anything important from the meeting. That could include: 

• Action items. In many meetings, you’ll assign action items to your team members. These items are typically the next steps your team must take to reach the goals you’ve discussed during the meeting. You can create and track these action items in Fellow. For each action item, you should detail the assignment, who will handle it, its timeline, and a due date.
  
• Facts. You should write down any new facts that came up at the meeting. Maybe a client has shared an update that’s worth noting or a team member has learned something new that could benefit the whole team. Jot it down so you can refer back to it later.
  
• Questions. Record any questions that came up during the meeting and note whether someone answered them. This way, you have the answers at hand, or you’ll know to look into the questions before your next meeting.

4Record talking points for future meetings

You might want to include a section in your meeting notes for anything you want to mention at the next meeting. You should write these points at the bottom of your meeting agenda so you can bring them up later without interrupting anyone. 

Tips on taking meeting notes 

Instead of writing down meeting notes randomly in your agenda, you should save space under each agenda item for your notes. The below tips can help you take the best notes possible on a Zoom call. 

Write summaries, not whole sentences

Your meeting notes shouldn’t be a word-for-word diary of everything that came up at the meeting. Instead, your meeting notes should highlight key phrases and words, questions, and action items. This way, you’ll stay more engaged at your meeting since you’re not spending the entire time jotting down notes. 

Use a meeting template

To make your note-taking process more efficient, you may want to create a meeting agenda template. This way, you can create an agenda – and the space for notes – more quickly each time. That means you won’t need to spend any time thinking about where each detail should go as you’re taking notes on your Zoom calls.

Try this free meeting notes template during your next meeting:

Remember the meeting goals 

Taking effective meeting notes starts with remembering why you’re writing them in the first place. Are you trying to stay more organized? Will you share your notes, or are they just for you? What are you trying to accomplish? 

When you know exactly why you’re writing meeting notes, you’ll be more motivated to create better notes. And that’s important: Taking meeting notes during your Zoom calls can move your projects along and help you do your best work. 

Take effective meeting notes with Fellow

Taking meeting notes during your Zoom meetings can make your meetings more successful and productive. To run an organized meeting, you’ll need a meeting notes software platform that seamlessly brings up your agenda in your Zoom call. With Fellow, you can load your agendas right in Zoom so you can easily take notes while you’re chatting with your team or your clients. Making the most of your Zoom meetings has never been easier.