Decisions and actions solve different problems

A decision is a choice the group locked (“we ship v2 in August”). An action item is work someone must do next (“Bea drafts the release note by Friday”). When you merge them, owners get fuzzy and debates reopen.

Keep a short decision log for “what we chose and why,” and a separate action list for “who moves next.” Both belong in minutes and in the follow-up email.

How to extract each list

Scan notes for settled language: approved, won’t pursue, going with option B. Those are decisions. Scan for verbs with owners and dates for actions. Free extractors can draft both lists from the same paste.

If a decision has no follow-up owner, ask out loud before the room leaves: “Who drives the next step?” That one question prevents a pure decision log that never ships.

Use both in follow-up

Lead the follow-up with decisions so people stop re-arguing. Put actions underneath with owners. Next meeting, review open actions first — then only revisit decisions if new information appeared.

MinutesLoop treats confirmed commitments as Open Actions on a living board. Clear decisions make those actions easier to trust. Start with the free tools; join the waitlist for the full loop.