Meeting notes in practice

1:1 meeting notes: a template for managers and reports

Keep 1:1 notes as one running document shared by manager and report, not a new note each week. A template, what to write down, and when to leave recording out.

By the Notey team at AInject · · 6 min read

In short

The most useful 1:1 meeting notes are one running document shared by the manager and the report, with the newest meeting at the top, rather than a new note every week. Each entry holds the agenda both people added to, what was agreed, and what each person committed to.

Over months it becomes a record of how the working relationship and the work have gone, which neither person would keep otherwise.

This guide gives a template, explains what to write and what to leave out, and covers whether to record a 1:1 at all. The short answer to that last one is usually not, and only after asking.

Why one running document

A 1:1 is a conversation that continues week to week. Separate notes for each meeting break it up: last week's commitment is in a different file, the topic that has come up three times looks new each time, and nobody can see the pattern.

A single document fixes that. Before each meeting, both people add topics at the top. During it, you note what was agreed. Next time, the first thing you see is last week's actions. At review time, you have months of specifics rather than a vague memory of the last two weeks.

It should be shared between the two of you and nobody else, and both of you should be able to edit it. A manager's private notes about a report are a different document, with different rules, and should not be confused with this one.

The template

# <Manager> / <Report> — 1:1s

## Standing topics (use when the agenda is short)

- Priorities for the next two weeks
- Anything blocking you
- Feedback, both directions
- Growth: what you want to learn or do next

---

## 25 September 2026

### Agenda

- (Priya) Northwind asking for weekly calls — is that sustainable?
- (Priya) Conference talk proposal
- (Ana) Handover of the release notes

### Discussed and agreed

- Weekly Northwind calls until go-live, then fortnightly. Ana to tell Marc.
- Priya submits the talk proposal; Ana reviews the abstract.

### Actions

- [ ] Ana — tell Marc about the Northwind call schedule — by Friday
- [ ] Priya — send talk abstract to Ana — by 30 September
- [ ] Ana — review abstract — within two days of receiving it

### Carried over

- Release notes handover — not discussed, move to next week

---

## 18 September 2026

...

The newest entry goes at the top, so the document opens on what matters now.

What to write down

The agenda, with whose item it is

Put the report's topics first. A 1:1 is mainly their meeting; if the manager's items always come first, the report's never get time. Marking each item with who raised it also shows, over time, whether the report is bringing things or only answering.

What was agreed

Short statements of what was decided or settled, not a record of the conversation. "Weekly Northwind calls until go-live" is enough. If a topic was discussed and nothing was settled, say so, and carry it over.

Actions on both sides

Especially the manager's. Reports notice when a manager's promises — to raise something with their own manager, to find budget, to review a draft — disappear. Writing them down in a document the report can see is the simplest way to keep them. The same rules as any action item apply: one owner, a verb, a deliverable and a date. Writing meeting action items that get done covers them.

Feedback, briefly

When feedback is given in either direction, a line helps: what it was about and what will change. Not a transcript of a hard conversation, and nothing the other person would be surprised to find written.

What to leave out

  • Health, family and personal matters, unless the person asks you to note something (for example, a change in working hours they want on record). They told you, not the document.
  • Opinions about third parties. "Tom has been slow on reviews" in a shared document will eventually be read by someone it was not meant for.
  • Anything you would not want the report to read, in a document the report can read. If you need to keep a formal record of a performance concern, that belongs in the process your organisation uses for it, and the person should know it exists.

Should you record a 1:1

Usually not, at least not as a habit.

A 1:1 is where people raise things they would not raise in a group: that they are struggling, that they disagree with a decision, that something is wrong at home. A recording changes what people are willing to say, and a report may not feel able to say no to their manager. In many jurisdictions and organisations there are also rules about recording employees at all.

There are cases where a recording helps: a 1:1 that is mainly a technical walkthrough, a remote report who wants to revisit detailed instructions, a mentoring session where the mentee asks for it. In those cases:

  • Ask first, every time, and say why. "Would you mind if I recorded this one? It's mostly the migration steps and I'd like to get them right."
  • Make no the easy answer. Offer it as a question, not an announcement, and do not ask again if the answer is no.
  • Stop the recording for anything personal, or before the meeting turns to it.
  • Say what happens to it: who can see it and when it is deleted.

How to ask for consent to record a meeting has wording for this. A recorder running on your own computer is not visible to the other person, so the question has to be asked out loud.

If you do record a 1:1 with Notey, it is recorded and transcribed on your Mac and nothing is sent anywhere unless you ask for AI notes. A red dot and a running timer show in the window, the menu bar and the floating button for as long as audio is being kept, so you can see at a glance whether it is still recording when the conversation changes direction. That indicator is visible to you, not the other person, which is one more reason to say it.

Keeping it going

  • Add topics during the week, not five minutes before. Both of you.
  • Open with last week's actions. A minute on "did we each do what we said?" keeps the document honest.
  • Move repeated topics up. If the same item has appeared three weeks running, it needs a decision, not another discussion.
  • Keep decisions that matter beyond the two of you somewhere the team can see. A change in how the team works, agreed in a 1:1, belongs in a decision log as well.

The general structure — decisions, actions, open questions — is the same as in the meeting notes template. A 1:1 document just keeps them in one place across months.

Frequently asked questions

Who should take notes in a 1:1, the manager or the report?

Either, as long as both can see and edit the same document. Many teams have the report own the agenda and the manager write down what they committed to, so both sides are on the record.

Should 1:1 notes be shared?

With the two people in the meeting, yes. Beyond that, no, unless both agree. Private notes about the other person defeat the purpose of a shared document.

Should I record a 1:1 meeting?

Usually not by default. Many 1:1s cover performance, health or personal matters, and people speak less freely when recorded. If there is a reason to record one, ask first, and accept no as an answer.

What should a 1:1 agenda include?

The report's topics first, then the manager's, then a check on last time's action items. Recurring prompts such as priorities, blockers, feedback and growth can sit at the bottom for when the list is short.