Struggling to capture discussion points during Teams meetings?
I’m managing a project team of 15 people across three departments, and we have daily Teams meetings to discuss progress. Everyone needs access to the meeting notes, but we’ve been inconsistently capturing information—sometimes in personal notebooks, sometimes in emails, and sometimes not at all. This has led to confusion about action items and decisions. How can we systematically take and share meeting notes within Microsoft Teams so everyone stays on the same page?
Capturing meeting notes in Teams for your organization
Effective meeting notes are critical for business continuity and accountability. When teams don’t properly document discussions, decisions often get lost, action items fall through the cracks, and participants walk away with different understandings of what happened.
By using Microsoft Teams’ built-in tools for meeting notes, your organization can maintain a single source of truth that’s accessible to all meeting participants and relevant stakeholders. For advanced collaboration, you can also embed Microsoft Loop into Teams to enhance your note-taking capabilities. This improves follow-through, reduces redundant conversations, and provides valuable context for team members who couldn’t attend.
Adding notes to Teams meetings
This tutorial will demonstrate multiple methods for taking collaborative meeting notes in Teams, including the native meeting notes feature, OneNote integration, and using the meeting chat. We’ll cover pre-meeting setup, during-meeting documentation, and post-meeting sharing workflows. You’ll need a Microsoft 365 account with Teams access, and basic familiarity with Teams meetings. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a comprehensive system for capturing, organizing, and sharing meeting notes with your colleagues.
Taking Microsoft Teams meeting notes
Setting up meeting notes before your Teams meeting begins
- Schedule a meeting with notes enabled by creating a new Teams meeting, clicking on the meeting options, and toggling on the meeting notes feature to ensure it’s available when the meeting starts.
- Create an agenda in advance by opening the meeting and selecting “Meeting notes” from the details tab, then clicking “Take notes” to outline discussion points, which helps structure note-taking during the actual meeting.
- Assign a dedicated note-taker in advance by mentioning this responsibility in the meeting invitation, ensuring someone is specifically tasked with documenting key points and decisions.
- Pre-populate templates in your notes with standard sections like “Attendees,” “Action Items,” “Decisions Made,” and “Follow-up Required” to streamline the documentation process during your meeting.
- Share the notes link pre-meeting by copying the notes URL from the meeting details and sending it to all participants so they can prepare and contribute to the collaborative document.
Capturing meeting notes during a live Teams meeting
- Access meeting notes during the call by clicking the “…” (more actions) button in the meeting controls and selecting “Meeting notes,” which opens the notes panel without leaving the meeting window.
- Use collaborative editing features to allow multiple participants to contribute simultaneously to the notes, perfect for workshops or brainstorming sessions where diverse input matters.
- Record action items with owner assignments by using the “@” symbol to tag specific team members in the notes, creating clear accountability for follow-up tasks.
- Take advantage of formatting options like bullet points, numbering, and headings to organize information hierarchically and make the notes easier to scan after the meeting.
- Capture screenshots directly into notes by using Windows key + Shift + S, then pasting into the notes panel when you need to document visual information shared during the meeting.
Using OneNote in Teams for more robust meeting documentation
- Add OneNote to your Teams channel by clicking the “+” at the top of the channel, selecting OneNote, and either creating a new notebook or connecting an existing one dedicated to meeting documentation.
- Create a meeting notes template in OneNote with standardized sections for consistent documentation across all team meetings, saving time and ensuring comprehensive coverage of important topics.
- Use OneNote’s recording feature during Teams meetings to capture audio while taking notes, allowing you to revisit exactly what was said when clarification is needed.
- Organize meeting notes hierarchically by creating a section group for each project, sections for meeting types, and pages for individual meetings to build a searchable knowledge repository over time.
- Leverage OneNote’s rich media capabilities by embedding relevant files, links, Excel tables, and diagrams directly in your meeting notes for comprehensive documentation beyond text.
- When you need to share important meeting decisions with the broader team, you can easily send email to and from Teams channel to ensure everyone stays informed. This helps maintain clear communication channels and keeps all stakeholders aligned with meeting outcomes.
Post-meeting notes management and sharing
- Send meeting notes to participants immediately after the meeting by clicking the “Share to Outlook” option in the meeting notes, ensuring everyone receives the documentation while the discussion is fresh.
- Pin important meeting notes to your Teams channel by clicking the “…” next to the notes post and selecting “Pin,” keeping critical information visible at the top of the channel.
- Convert action items from notes to tasks by highlighting text in your notes and using the integration with Microsoft Planner or To Do to create trackable assignments with deadlines.
- Create a meeting notes digest for leadership by compiling key decisions and action items from various meeting notes into a summary document that highlights progress and blockers.
- Establish a review cadence for meeting notes where team members confirm they’ve read the documentation and understand their action items, enhancing accountability and follow-through.
Pro tip: For recurring meetings, create a dedicated OneNote section that builds a running log of notes over time, allowing you to easily reference past discussions and track progress on long-term initiatives without creating new note pages each time.