Glossary
What does “Action item” mean?
A task agreed in a meeting, with a named person responsible and a deadline.
What it means
A task agreed in a meeting, with a named person responsible and a deadline. Action items are what turn a discussion into something that happens afterwards.
An example
“Priya — send the revised quote to the client by Friday.” One owner, one task, one date; it is checked at the start of the next meeting.
Not to be confused with: Decision
A decision is what the group agreed; an action item is the work someone does because of it. One decision often creates several action items.
Where you will see it
In meeting notes, recaps and minutes, project tools and task lists, and at the start of recurring meetings when last time’s actions are reviewed.
Questions
What makes a good action item?
A specific task, one named owner and a date — “Ana to email the supplier by Tuesday”, not “look into suppliers”.
Should an action item have more than one owner?
It works better with one; others can help, but one person is answerable for getting it done.
Where should action items be kept?
Somewhere the whole team can see and that is checked regularly — the meeting notes, a shared task list or the team’s project tool — not only in one person’s notebook, where they quietly disappear.
Other meeting words
Try Meetful
Meetings that take their own notes
Free video meetings in the browser: every line of the transcript under the name of who said it, and the summary and action items when you hang up. Nothing to install — guests just open the link.