Minutes, also known as protocols, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting, starting with a list of attendees, a statement of the issues considered by the participants, and related responses or decisions for the issues.

Minutes may be created during the meeting by a typist or court recorder, who may use shorthand notation and then prepare the minutes and issue them to the participants afterwards. Alternatively, the meeting can be audiorecorded or a group's appointed or informally assigned Secretary may take notes, with minutes prepared later.

It is usually important for the minutes to be terse and only include a summary of discussion and decisions. A verbatim report is typically not useful. The minutes of certain groups, such as a corporate board of directors, must be kept on file and are important legal documents.

Most public meetings and governmental hearings follow prescribed rules. Often speakers' words are recorded verbatim, or with only minor paraphrasing, so that every speaker's comments are included. This is generally required at public hearings that are called to address a particular issue, as distinct from other types of public meetings, which may not strictly required verbatim records of all comments made. Companies are generally required to keep minutes of the proceedings of: (a) general meetings, (b) meetings of Board of Directors and (c) meetings of committee of the Board of Directors.^{[citation needed]}