Project meeting minutes template (Word, free)

What’s in the template

The minutes open with these details:

• Project
• Meeting (e.g. weekly status meeting no. 11)
• Date
• Time
• Location (or video platform)
• Chair (project manager)
• Minutes taken by
• Present
• Apologies
• Reporting period covered
• Overall project status (green / amber / red)

Then the body follows the meeting in this order:

1. 1. Review of open actions — Go through the action list by number. Record each as closed, open or carried with a new date. Do not re-discuss closed actions.
2. 2. Overall status and headline — One paragraph: the overall rating, what changed since last week and the single most important thing the sponsor should know.Status this week (green / amber / red): · Status last week: · Headline:
3. 3. Status by workstream — One block per workstream. The lead reports; the minutes record progress, plans and help needed, not the discussion.Workstream: · Lead: · Status (green / amber / red): · Progress this period: · Planned next period: · Help needed:
4. 4. Milestones — Every milestone in the next eight weeks plus any that moved. Baseline date never changes; forecast date does.Milestone: · Baseline date: · Forecast date: · Status: · Comment:
5. 5. Risks: new and changed — Only risks that are new, have changed rating or have an overdue response. The full register lives elsewhere.Risk no.: · Description: · Change since last meeting: · Owner: · Response:
6. 6. Issues — Things that have already happened and need resolving. Each has an owner and a target date.Issue no.: · Description: · Impact: · Owner: · Target resolution:
7. 7. Change requests — Any request to change scope, time or cost, with its status. Record who approves, not just that it was discussed.CR no.: · Description: · Effect on scope / time / cost: · Status (raised / assessed / approved / rejected):
8. 8. Budget and resources — Spend to date against plan, forecast at completion, and any resourcing gap in the next period.
9. 9. Decisions — Decisions made in this meeting, and decisions needed from someone outside it, with who and by when.Decision: · Made by: · Decisions required from steering group / sponsor:
10. 10. Next meeting — Date, time and any change to attendees.

At the end: milestones and risks and issues log and action items, as tables you can keep across meetings.

The template

Download it as a Word file, or copy the text version into your own document.

Project Status Meeting Minutes

Project: 
Meeting (e.g. weekly status meeting no. 11): 
Date: 
Time: 
Location (or video platform): 
Chair (project manager): 
Minutes taken by: 
Present: 
Apologies: 
Reporting period covered: 
Overall project status (green / amber / red): 

1. Review of open actions
   [Go through the action list by number. Record each as closed, open or carried with a new date. Do not re-discuss closed actions.]

2. Overall status and headline
   [One paragraph: the overall rating, what changed since last week and the single most important thing the sponsor should know.]
   Status this week (green / amber / red):
   Status last week:
   Headline:

3. Status by workstream
   [One block per workstream. The lead reports; the minutes record progress, plans and help needed, not the discussion.]
   Workstream:
   Lead:
   Status (green / amber / red):
   Progress this period:
   Planned next period:
   Help needed:

4. Milestones
   [Every milestone in the next eight weeks plus any that moved. Baseline date never changes; forecast date does.]
   Milestone:
   Baseline date:
   Forecast date:
   Status:
   Comment:

5. Risks: new and changed
   [Only risks that are new, have changed rating or have an overdue response. The full register lives elsewhere.]
   Risk no.:
   Description:
   Change since last meeting:
   Owner:
   Response:

6. Issues
   [Things that have already happened and need resolving. Each has an owner and a target date.]
   Issue no.:
   Description:
   Impact:
   Owner:
   Target resolution:

7. Change requests
   [Any request to change scope, time or cost, with its status. Record who approves, not just that it was discussed.]
   CR no.:
   Description:
   Effect on scope / time / cost:
   Status (raised / assessed / approved / rejected):

8. Budget and resources
   [Spend to date against plan, forecast at completion, and any resourcing gap in the next period.]

9. Decisions
   [Decisions made in this meeting, and decisions needed from someone outside it, with who and by when.]
   Decision:
   Made by:
   Decisions required from steering group / sponsor:

10. Next meeting
   [Date, time and any change to attendees.]

Milestones
Milestone | Baseline | Forecast | Status | Owner

Risks and issues log
No. | Type (risk / issue) | Description | Owner | Status

Action items
No. | Action | Owner | Raised | Due | Status

Example: filled-in project meeting minutes

What the template looks like once it’s been used. The organisation and people are made up.

Milestones

Action items

Tips for project meeting minutes

• Record last week's rating next to this week's. The change is more informative than the colour.
• Keep the baseline date in the milestone table even after it has been missed. A forecast that moves every week while the baseline stays still is the clearest picture of a slipping project.
• Write one line of cause for each amber or red, in the lead's words. Next quarter nobody will remember why week 11 went amber.
• Carry open actions forward with the date they were raised. An action raised in week 3 and still open in week 11 is itself an issue.
• Send the minutes the same day. A status meeting's minutes lose most of their value by the time the next one happens.
• If the sponsor sends apologies, write the headline paragraph for them specifically; it is the only part of the minutes they will read.

Related templates

• Project kickoff meeting template — The one meeting where scope, roles and how the project will communicate are written down before anyone starts work.
• Construction meeting minutes template — The weekly site or progress meeting record: safety, progress against programme, RFIs, submittals, changes, delays and an action list that runs across meetings.
• Team meeting minutes template — The weekly meeting of one team: last week's numbers, blockers, decisions and this week's priorities.
• Meeting notes with action items template — Notes built around a running action register, for recurring meetings where last week's actions are this week's first agenda item.
• All meeting minutes templates

Or let the notes write themselves

A template helps when you’re the one typing. If you’d rather not be, an AI note taker can draft the summary and action items for you. Most send a bot into the call; QuietNote captures from your own computer instead, so nothing joins the meeting and you decide when capture starts. It’s in private beta. Whatever you use, read the draft before you send it, and tell attendees you’re recording where the rules require it.