Meeting Minutes in Construction: Why Minutes Matter and How To Keep Them Organized

November 6, 2022 by Michael Gober & Denis Gritsiyenko

As a construction manager, you understand the importance of organization.

After all, construction is detail-oriented work that requires expert planning and coordination.

And while you may have a great system for keeping your construction projects on track, what about your meeting minutes?

Between coordinating projects, dealing with clients, and managing employees, the last thing you need is the responsibility of trying to keep track of the minutes from every meeting.

The truth: If you're not using construction management software to keep track of your meeting minutes, you may be missing out on a valuable tool that can help you stay organized and on top of your projects.

In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at why minutes matter and offer some tips on how to keep your meeting minutes organized.

CM Fusion: Keep Better Records With Construction Management Software
What Are Meeting Minutes in Construction?
1. Why Are Meeting Minutes Important?
2. How Should Meeting Minutes Be Taken?
What Should Be Included in Meeting Minutes?
Who Should Take Meeting Minutes?
1. Who Gets a Copy of the Meeting Minutes?
Keep Your Construction Meeting Minutes Organized With Document Management by CM Fusion

CM Fusion: Keep Better Records With Construction Management Software

You know that every minute counts when trying to get a project completed on time and on budget.

Meeting minutes are a valuable record of what was discussed and decided at a meeting, and they can help you stay organized and on track.

But what if there was a way to streamline the process of taking and keeping meeting minutes? What if there was a construction management software that could help you keep better records and stay organized?

If you are asking questions like these about management software, you need to know about CM Fusion.

CM Fusion offers a variety of services, including:

Meeting Minutes: Our software makes it easy to take meeting minutes and store them in one place. You can also share meeting minutes with other members of your team, so everyone is on the same page.
Document Management: Keep all your project documents organized and in one place with our document management system. This way, you can always find the information you need — when you need it.
Issue Tracking: Stay on top of issues with our issue tracking system. It helps you resolve issues quickly and keeps your project on track.
Project Scheduling: Keep your project on schedule with our project scheduling tool. This way, you can make sure every task is completed on time.

Try CM Fusion today and see how we can help you keep better records and keep your projects organized.

30-Day Free Trial

What Are Meeting Minutes in Construction?

Meeting minutes are the written or recorded documentation that captures the essential information discussed during a meeting.

In construction, minutes are often taken to:

Capture project updates
Brainstorm solutions to issues; or
Make decisions about next steps

Why Are Meeting Minutes Important?

While meeting minutes may seem like a tedious task, they are an important tool for keeping all project stakeholders on the same page and moving the project forward.

With so many moving parts and so much at stake, it's crucial to have a written record of what was discussed to avoid miscommunication or confusion down the line.

Meeting minutes are critical for the success of your construction projects because they can:

Keep you and your team organized
Provide a written record of decisions; and
Help you track project timelines and deliverables

Minutes should also be read immediately upon receiving them to ensure any important action items were addressed and not forgotten.

How Should Meeting Minutes Be Taken?

There are a variety of ways to take minutes during a meeting, but the most important goal is to be accurate and impartial.

While it’s important to capture the meeting’s events, you don’t always have to record every single word that is said.

Instead, focus on creating an objective account of:

What happened
Who said what; and
What decisions were discussed

To do this, you can use formal minutes-taking techniques like the ones below.

Action

Action minutes focus on noting any decisions that were made and any action items that were assigned.

This type of minute-taking is most popular, and probably best for construction-specific meetings, as almost everything discussed will be action-related.

Verbatim

As the name suggests, verbatim minutes are a word-for-word account of everything that was said during the meeting.

Verbatim minute-taking is helpful when needing to refer back to a decision made during the course of a project.

Discussion

Discussion minutes capture the main points that were discussed during the meeting without recording everything that was said.

This type of minute-taking can be useful for capturing key ideas without getting bogged down in the details of a construction meeting.

What Should Be Included in Meeting Minutes?

Since construction projects can be complex and involve many different people and moving parts, it’s important to have a system in place for tracking all the information related to the project.

Meeting minutes will ensure nothing falls through the cracks and that everyone is aware of their roles and responsibilities.

There are many ways to take minutes, but there are a few key elements that should always be included.

Housekeeping Items

There are a few housekeeping items that should be included in every set of construction meeting minutes, including:

Date, time, and location of the meeting
Names of those in attendance
Meeting agenda
Summary of the discussion points
Decisions made during the meeting
Action items and deadlines; and
Date and time of the next meeting

Keeping a record of housekeeping items is especially important if you have a large team or if members of your team are located in different parts of the country.

Major Construction Items

Some of the major construction items that should be documented in your meeting minutes include a description of:

Changes to the budget or schedule
Changes or deviations from the original plan
Upcoming work that needs to be completed
Work that was completed during the previous week; and
Problems or issues that have arisen during the course of the project

You can use meeting minutes to make sure everyone on your construction team is on the same page regarding the varying range of important details.

Upcoming Projects

Always make sure to include upcoming projects in your minutes.

This will give everyone a chance to review the construction project plan for anything coming down the pipeline and ask any questions they might have before work begins, such as:

Deadlines
Milestones
Task allocation
Labor needs; and
Project materials

By keeping track of these details, you can help ensure that your project stays on schedule and on budget.

Who Should Take Meeting Minutes?

The general contractor usually leads the project meetings, but depending on the size of the company, there may be an administrative support person who is responsible for recording minutes.

It is important to have someone who is organized and can capture key information from the meeting in a concise format.

Whoever takes the meeting minutes is typically responsible for ensuring everyone knows where to find the minutes and that they can access them easily.

Who Gets a Copy of the Meeting Minutes?

There are many stakeholders in any construction project that may get a copy of the meeting minutes, including:

Project owners
General contractors
Architects; and
Engineers

A copy of the meeting minutes is generally distributed to everyone who was invited to the meeting, including those who were not present.

While anyone who wants a copy of the meeting minutes can request them from the person who took them, there are a few key players who will always want or need a copy of the minutes.

The Person Who Takes The Minutes

It should go without saying that the person who takes the minutes should keep a copy for themselves.

This way, they can refer back to their notes if there are any questions about what was discussed at the meeting.

The Project Manager

The project manager is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the construction project, so it's important that they have a record of what was discussed at meetings.

They can use meeting minutes to track progress on various aspects of the project and make sure that everyone is on track.

The Owner

The owner of the construction project will want to have copies of all meeting minutes, so they can stay up-to-date on what is happening with their project.

They may also use meeting minutes as a way to hold the project manager and other stakeholders accountable for meeting deadlines and staying within budget.

Keep Your Construction Meeting Minutes Organized With Document Management by CM Fusion

If you're in construction, you know every minute counts.

That's why it's important to keep your construction meeting minutes organized with document management by CM Fusion.

With our easy-to-use software, you can manage all your construction documents in one place. And because we're cloud-based, you can access your documents from anywhere, anytime.

But that's not all. CM Fusion also offers a variety of features to help you stay organized and on top of your project, including:

Project templates
Task lists; and
Project calendars

Plus, our team of experts is always here to answer any questions you may have.

Ready to get started?

Try a demo of CM Fusion software by contacting us today.