If you are the secretary of a housing society, HOA, residents' association or committee, you can record the meeting on your phone and let MeetNotes write the minutes. You get the points raised by each member, the decisions and resolutions, and the action items with who does what by when, plus a full transcript with each speaker labelled. Download it as an editable Word file or a PDF and circulate it to members.
Society meetings are hard to minute by hand. Many people talk at once, members switch between languages, and the secretary is often also the person answering questions. A phone on the table takes the writing off your hands.
Before the meeting
- Install MeetNotes on your phone (Android, iPhone or Mac) and sign in. Every account starts with 100 free minutes.
- Use your society's own minutes layout, if you have one. Tap your picture, then Your profession & format, then My formats, New format, and upload last year's minutes as a Word file or type the headings (for example: Attendance, Confirmation of previous minutes, Accounts, Maintenance, Any other business, Resolutions). The next meetings come back in that layout (choosing a format).
- Add the society's letterhead to the PDF: name, logo and footer, once, under Settings, PDF letterhead (how).
During the meeting
- Announce that the meeting is being recorded for the minutes, and note any objection.
- Tap Record meeting and put the phone flat in the middle of the table, or near the chair at a long table (where to put the phone).
- Ask people to speak one at a time when a resolution is proposed, seconded and voted. Say the result out loud: "Resolution passed, 34 in favour, 2 against." What is said clearly is written clearly.
- Tap Stop when the meeting closes. For a long AGM, keep MeetNotes on screen: that is the safest way to record for hours.
After the meeting
- Check the minutes. Tap any line of the transcript to hear that moment. Fix a misheard flat number or name once and it is corrected everywhere.
- Name the speakers once ("Speaker 2" becomes "Mr Shah, Treasurer"), and MeetNotes recognises their voices at the next meeting (naming speakers).
- Circulate. Share the Word file or PDF, send the minutes to the members' WhatsApp group as a message or as a PDF (how), or email them.
- Two meetings in one recording? If the AGM ran straight into a committee meeting, use Split here to make two sets of minutes (how).
Members speak Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi or a mix
There is no language to set before recording. A meeting where one member speaks Gujarati, another Hindi and the treasurer reads the accounts in English is written down as spoken, and the minutes come out in the language you choose, for example English for the society's records. More in minutes for mixed-language meetings.
What the minutes contain
| Part | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Summary | What the meeting covered |
| Key points | The issues raised, by member, as said |
| Decisions | Resolutions passed or rejected, with the result when it was said |
| Action items | Each task with its owner and a due date when one was said |
| Transcript | Every line with the speaker and the time |
MeetNotes writes down what was said in the meeting. It does not check the minutes against your bye-laws or the law, so the secretary and the chair still review and sign them. For the layout most societies use, see the AGM minutes format and the board meeting minutes format.
FAQ
Is there an app that writes housing society meeting minutes from a recording?
Yes. Record the AGM or committee meeting on your phone with MeetNotes and it returns the minutes, with decisions, action items and a transcript by speaker, as a Word file or PDF.
Can I get the minutes in our society's own format?
Yes. Upload your existing minutes as a Word file, or type the headings, under My formats. Later meetings come back in that layout.
Does it work for HOA and condo board meetings?
Yes. Any meeting held in a room works the same way: record on a phone, then share the minutes with the board or the owners.
Our members speak Gujarati and Hindi. Can the minutes be in English?
Yes. You do not choose the meeting language, mixed-language sentences are supported, and the minutes can be written in English or another language you choose.
Can I send the minutes to the society WhatsApp group?
Yes. Tap Share and send the PDF to the group, or send the minutes as a plain WhatsApp message.
Do the minutes still need to be checked?
Yes. MeetNotes records what was said. The secretary and the chair should read the minutes, correct anything misheard, and approve them as your rules require.
