Meeting Journal – The Top 3 for This Year

Meeting journals are gaining popularity in recent years since they can be indispensable meeting aids. They enable participants to record notes in a structured manner with different meeting journals containing information sections from very simple to a more robust and complete structure. Unless you are a seasoned professional who commonly takes meeting minute notes, these books allow you to capture almost everything that happens in meetings. The meeting journal must be diligent in recording at the very least, the seven critical components of a business meeting.

Meeting Journal: Our Top 3 Picks

These three meeting journals certainly do the job and all have many similarities.

Konnect Meeting Minutes Journal

The Konnect Meeting Minutes Journal is the most comprehensive meeting journal on the market today. It has features that no other journal has and should be considered among the top choices for a meeting journal.

This journal can be used for any type of business meeting, from board meetings to general problem-solving meetings. This journal has an index to locate past meetings easily, with a reference number column, status column, due date, and description line.

It also has a secondary line to place the page numbers for all meetings enabling the individual to quickly go to the index and locate all meetings under that description. The journal is 296 pages and most in the market are approximately half the size.

It has a unique ribbon format so that you can use it over many years if needed. The current version has the years up to 2028. The meeting minute pages are well formatted providing an easy-to-use system that is comprehensive and complete.

Other Benefits:

The Konnect Meeting Minutes Journal also has in its system an actions reference number which you can create and assign. There’s a separate section of pages dedicated to having the actions in one centralized location.

Tracking action items is a breeze with this journal so you don’t have to search from one meeting page to another. You can not find this feature in the other journals. The centralized location is truly handy when you are handling many meetings and their corresponding actions.

The last type of page that this meeting journal has is its Meeting/habit tracker page. The pages have a ribbon located at the top of the page. Circle the month you are in for easy referencing.

It has space for Monthly, weekly, and daily meeting tracking. Simply write the meeting description and the frequency for that month and you have a very useful tool to see all meetings at a glance. It is available in hardcover and paperback.

S&O Large Meeting Notebook

The Swetzer & Orange meeting notes notebook is a great notebook and easy to use. It has all the functionality needed for most business meetings. It’s a spiral-bound notebook with structured pages.

This notebook has the standard features of meeting minute pages including the date, attendees, time, location, agenda, notes, and actions with a due date column at the bottom of each page.

The notes and action items section are dotted-lined so that you can create additional columns. This feature offers creativity for those who want it.

This meeting notebook can be utilized in a creative manner because of its dotted line feature and can appeal to such personalities. Like the other journals this journal also enables you to use multiple pages for longer meetings.

It has an elastic around it to keep the book closed and has a great look. The S&O meeting notebook is for those who may not have a large number of meetings but definitely want to keep track of each one they have. With 208 pages this notebook is certainly one to consider.

Regolden Meeting Notebook

The Regolden Meeting Journal is another meeting minutes notebook that is worth considering. Its pages have a simple layout with all the standard features you would expect from a meeting journal.

These include date, time, location, attendees, a meeting objective section, and a blank section for meeting notes.

At the bottom of its pages are where you can place the action items, the responsible person, the due date, and a checkmark column to check off when the item has been completed. This journal notebook comes in four colors and the book has 160 pages.

The S&O large meeting notebook is for those professionals who may not have a lot of meetings but want the accountability that a meeting journal offers.

How did we choose which should be in the top 3?

There are many considerations when choosing the right meeting journal for you. These include whether you are a beginner or someone who is a seasoned professional.

Also, the type of meetings you are recording and tracking, as well as the information that you need for each type of business meeting.

Other considerations I chose to include is the look of journal and the binding of the book.

Suggested articles for you! How To Choose The Best Meeting Journal Notebook For You

Why you should trust our advice for the best meeting journal?

Over my career, I have conducted and been a part of thousands of business meetings in many organizations both in small businesses and large corporations. I have also consulted organizations to make their meetings more efficient and productive.

My experience enables me to share information that will benefit you and or company regardless of size. Although larger organizations tend to have better-structured meetings, it must be said that the vast majority can improve their meeting productivity.

A good meeting journal will certainly lead you in that direction. I have always suggested that companies provide professional meeting journals to management.

The journals are the property of the company and not the individual, and can be a great asset should individuals leave to other organizations.

Our pick

The one that stands out among all meeting minute journals is the Konnect Meeting Minutes Journal. It has many unique features, along with its ability to track ongoing meetings easily.

Easily locate where the other previous meetings of the same kind.  You don’t need to flip pages endlessly to find where each previous meeting is located.

It also has a centralized location for action items. It acts as a to-do list of action items from all meetings so that you can track all of them without having to locate specific meetings and their pages.

Lastly, you can use the meeting tracking pages to simply locate the date of the meeting and then locate that date in the meeting minutes section.

This meeting minutes journal is created for those who are serious and want productive meetings. They want simple referencing, with the standard features available in all meeting minutes journals.

The seven critical components to a successful business meeting

• Date & Time
• Participants and absences
• Meeting organizer, facilitator, and timekeeper
• Agenda and topic discussion summary
• Actions derived from each top discussion
• Responsible person for each action item
• Due dates for each action item, and how they will be followed up

Suggested articles for you! What Are Action Items In A Meeting & The 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions

Most meeting journals do not have all of the above seven components. Following the structured pages allows for the meeting minute taker to record the information without the anxiety of maybe missing any of these 7-mentioned items.

The test of whether the meeting minutes were accurately taken is to review it six months or more from its date.  If it’s clear, then it was done properly.

Conclusion

Any of these top three will assist you with making your meetings more productive. You must choose which one best fit you, and which features you are looking for.

Choose the one that has the structure and style to fit your personality and the participants you will encounter in your meetings.