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Taking Notes In A Meeting


mercurius

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I have been taking notes in meetings (business and other groups) for years now and often producing the actions / minutes afterwards.

 

However, I am never satisfied with my notes, I seem to write far more than I actually use in the actions - particularly when the subject matters is something I'm not familiar with. I also find some drossy stuff where I don't quite get the drift - or my attention wanders off a bit.

 

I would really like to hear how other people go about note taking, how they organise the notes as they're taking them and what advice you have about talking concise but usable notes for writing up.

 

 

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Well, if it are quite formal meetings, the first thing you might ask is what needs to be in the minutes. Next focus on the items that need to go in there and train yourself in noting only these things. In formal meetings, it is mostly important to note what is done, what has been agreed on, not what has been said by who. Googling "Robert's rules of order" and "writing minutes" bring a wealth of inspiration. Unless it is important to exactly now what has been said by who, different story.

Edited by El Gordo

Ik ontken het grote belang van de computer niet, maar vind het van een stuitende domheid om iets wat al millennia zijn belang heeft bewezen daarom overboord te willen gooien (Ann De Craemer)

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It depends so much on your audience. I once worked for a guy who couldn't remember anything from one meeting to the next. So, instead of just capturing decisions and maybe one or two key points leading up to it, when I took the minutes for his meetings I'd have to capture every argument enough so that he could remember, "Oh, yeah. So that's what we were thinking."

 

Another boss I had just wanted the bare basics, focusing on decisions and actions, without a large amount of background. While I was taking the minutes I'd usually end up with more than was needed, so the final published minutes were pared down.

 

I find that writing them by hand helps me take better notes. When I type them I tend to just type what people are saying, and that may be what's needed for the raw minutes. It can be a challenge at time hand-writing notes when the meeting is fast-moving, but overall I get more benefit from the in-situ processing of the information so I can write it down then I experience negative consequences from writing too slowly.

 

I also try (not always possible, but is the ideal) to type up my minutes that same day at least. That way the meeting is fresher in my mind and I can usually clarify something I wrote down, or fill in gaps.

 

But know your audience. And if your audience is just you, all the better.

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

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It may depend a little on what people want in the minutes.

 

My feeling is that it's easier to edit out the junk than it is to add to your notes later.

Proud resident of the least visited state in the nation!

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My notes are fairly simple, and mostly for me. That said, I organize them in a way that is conducive to sharing if / as needed.

 

1) Names of attendees

2) Information shared that is important, material to the subject and evidently new to some / all. These points are preceded by a single dash ( - )

3) Action items for others. Item noted with name, and date if applicable. These items are preceded by a single line arrow ( -> )

4) Action items for me. These items are preceded by a double line arrow ( => ).

 

When I finish the meeting, I put my own action items on my Outlook task list. I often will follow the meeting with an email laying out everyone's action items. I don't normally send out the attendee names, nor the information. I assume if it's important to people, they will notate those items themselves.

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Well, if it are quite formal meetings, the first thing you might ask is what needs to be in the minutes. Next focus on the items that need to go in there and train yourself in noting only these things. In formal meetings, it is mostly important to note what is done, what has been agreed on, not what has been said by who. Googling "Robert's rules of order" and "writing minutes" bring a wealth of inspiration. Unless it is important to exactly now what has been said by who, different story.

 

OK, thanks. Mainly it's decisions and actions.

 

 

It depends so much on your audience. I once worked for a guy who couldn't remember anything from one meeting to the next. So, instead of just capturing decisions and maybe one or two key points leading up to it, when I took the minutes for his meetings I'd have to capture every argument enough so that he could remember, "Oh, yeah. So that's what we were thinking."

 

Another boss I had just wanted the bare basics, focusing on decisions and actions, without a large amount of background. While I was taking the minutes I'd usually end up with more than was needed, so the final published minutes were pared down.

 

I find that writing them by hand helps me take better notes. When I type them I tend to just type what people are saying, and that may be what's needed for the raw minutes. It can be a challenge at time hand-writing notes when the meeting is fast-moving, but overall I get more benefit from the in-situ processing of the information so I can write it down then I experience negative consequences from writing too slowly.

 

I also try (not always possible, but is the ideal) to type up my minutes that same day at least. That way the meeting is fresher in my mind and I can usually clarify something I wrote down, or fill in gaps.

 

But know your audience. And if your audience is just you, all the better.

 

I couldn't type fast enough and agree that handwriting the notes helps to process them.

 

 

My notes are fairly simple, and mostly for me. That said, I organize them in a way that is conducive to sharing if / as needed.

 

1) Names of attendees

2) Information shared that is important, material to the subject and evidently new to some / all. These points are preceded by a single dash ( - )

3) Action items for others. Item noted with name, and date if applicable. These items are preceded by a single line arrow ( -> )

4) Action items for me. These items are preceded by a double line arrow ( => ).

 

When I finish the meeting, I put my own action items on my Outlook task list. I often will follow the meeting with an email laying out everyone's action items. I don't normally send out the attendee names, nor the information. I assume if it's important to people, they will notate those items themselves.

 

Nice practical advice there. Many thanks.

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1. Create a word processing template that includes standard information and relevant requirements..

2. Take verbatim notes when exact wording matters.

3. Otherwise, take notes that spur your memory.

4. Using the template, compose the meeting minutes as soon as possible.

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Speaking of templates: a wide variety does exist eg in OneNote. If you need something on paper: huge amounts of free pdf on the net, but as this is FPN, also in journal form, meeting books by Rhodia, Action Day, Evernote/Moleskine, Mebin (I like the story behind it (http://mebin.co.uk/pages/our-story), but would have googled somewhat for meeting notebook or similar before starting a business on it personally) , Mead Cambridge, Book Factory and likely many others. Of course these are preformatted, mostly are not really exactly what I had in mind (difficult guy), have space for all relevant elements but the allocated space turns out to be either too big or too small for the amount of content required to enter into it, spoiling the nice preformat (BTW is it everywhere that timeslots for meetings roughly take one hour, regardless of what is discussed?)

Ik ontken het grote belang van de computer niet, maar vind het van een stuitende domheid om iets wat al millennia zijn belang heeft bewezen daarom overboord te willen gooien (Ann De Craemer)

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The less I know, the more notes I take. I can sort and research later. THAT'S where a fountain pen shines ! Smooth flow and relaxed grip minimizes fatigue and hand cramping. When the hand gets tired, there is a tendency to perform "triage" -- decide what can be omitted, to ease the hand pain. This is a big mistake. Information can be lost.

 

Write on one side of the paper, flipping the pages, as in steno notebook or legal pad. Don't worry about the lines or wasting paper. Ink and paper are cheap. Time and information are precious. Composition notebooks are also good. In August, "back-to-school" prices are great. The bound pages are very tidy. (Don't be the poor fool on hands and knees, picking up dropped paper.)

 

"Concise" is irrelevant. Sort, edit, and recopy notes afterward.

 

If you get fatigued, STAND UP ! "Please forgive the disruption. I concentrate better, standing."

(You won't look as stupid as the guy who nods off. )

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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