When adding tasks and action items to your notes, here are five steps to follow.
Start your action item with a verb. A common time-saving mistake is to be too brief in noting a task, forgetting to include the “action” part of the action item.
 Bad: 2020 data
 Good: Pull the 2020 data to share with the team
Assign each action item to someone who is responsible. A single person must take ownership of every single task, otherwise that task may not be completed.
Don’t include more information than is necessary. It is up to the person who is responsible for the action item to note more details. These details don’t need to clutter up the notes.
Note a due date if there is one. Even if there is no clear date, often an arbitrary one, such as one week, is helpful for creating urgency to do the task.
Follow up on action items at the next meeting. If status updates on action items haven’t been given in the meantime, it can be helpful to blast through a previous meeting’s action items to ensure they were accomplished.