Need Tips for Taking Notes in Meetings.

[ToddBrown]

Process while you meet!

My preferred note taking tool is OmniOutliner, and I'll sometimes use MindManager for brainstorming during meetings. My OO notes are pretty much "stream of consciousness", just capturing what's said as it's said. I go back after the meeting and review the notes for action items. MM and OO have worked pretty well for me, but I'd like to hear how other people take notes in meetings. Thanks!

As I've gotten deeper into GTD, I've realized that it's often possible to do most of your processing while you take notes in a meeting, rather than afterwards. I tend to use paper mind maps as my basic note-taking format, since I'm very visually oriented. Over the years I've developed symbols that I drop in my mind maps to represent new actions (an exclamation mark in a circle), new projects (an * in a circle), and waiting fors (w/f in a circle). I generally look over the notes quickly after the meeting to be sure I haven't missed anything. This has really cut my processing time down.

 

[jjlin]

I've had a bit of free time this morning to process the backlog in my RSS reader, which I've been ignoring lately because of higher priority items, and I came across an interesting post on the 43 Folders blog about "topless meetings" (as in, "no laptops"). Some great comments on that post, too.

Enforcing a "no laptops" policy sometimes just isn't possible if it's part of the culture. In any case, it's just addressing a symptom, and not the root cause: either you've invited people that don't need to be there, or there's no purpose to the meeting. If people can come to a meeting, sit and peck away and not pay attention then you have to wonder why they are there in the first place.

On the other hand, if there's a purpose to the meeting and only the necessary parties are there, then usually having laptops (or phones, or whatever) is not a problem, and can sometimes help since they can call up supplementary material quickly if needed.

Speaking of notes, I was struck by this passage from the Introduction to Drucker's "Effective Executive":

Good follow-up is just as important as the meeting itself. The great master of follow-up was Alfred Sloan, the most effective business executive I have ever known. Sloan, who headed General Motors from the 1920s until the 1950s, spent most of his six working days a week in meetings -- three days a week in formal committee meetings with a set membership, the other three days in ad hoc meetings with individual GM executives or with a small group of executives. At the beginning of a formal meeting, Sloan announced the meeting's purpose. He then listened. He never took notes and he rarely spoke except to clarify a confusing point. At the end he summed up, thanked the participants, and left. Then he immediately wrote a short memo addressed to one attendee of the meeting. In that note, he summarized the discussion and its conclusions and spelled out any work assignment decided upon in the meeting (including a decision to hold another meeting on the subject or to study an issue). He specified the deadline and the executive who was to be accountable for the assignment. He sent a copy of the memo to everyone who'd been present at the meeting. It was through these memos, each a small masterpiece, that Sloan made himself into an outstandingly effective executive.​

It seems obvious but it's amazing how few people do this consistently. I myself am trying to make this a habit sometimes it's easy to fall off the wagon.

 

[moises]

Speaking of notes, I was struck by this passage from the Introduction to Drucker's "Effective Executive":

Good follow-up is just as important as the meeting itself. The great master of follow-up was Alfred Sloan, the most effective business executive I have ever known. Sloan, who headed General Motors from the 1920s until the 1950s, spent most of his six working days a week in meetings -- three days a week in formal committee meetings with a set membership, the other three days in ad hoc meetings with individual GM executives or with a small group of executives. At the beginning of a formal meeting, Sloan announced the meeting's purpose. He then listened. He never took notes and he rarely spoke except to clarify a confusing point. At the end he summed up, thanked the participants, and left. Then he immediately wrote a short memo addressed to one attendee of the meeting. In that note, he summarized the discussion and its conclusions and spelled out any work assignment decided upon in the meeting (including a decision to hold another meeting on the subject or to study an issue). He specified the deadline and the executive who was to be accountable for the assignment. He sent a copy of the memo to everyone who'd been present at the meeting. It was through these memos, each a small masterpiece, that Sloan made himself into an outstandingly effective executive.​

It seems obvious but it's amazing how few people do this consistently. I myself am trying to make this a habit sometimes it's easy to fall off the wagon.

Nice quote. Thanks.

 

[omalley73]

Note Taking with Tablet PC's

I'm surprised no one has mentioned using tablet PC's for note taking yet. Having a traditional laptop open can create a physical barrier between you and the people with whom you are talking (especially if they are not also using a laptop). In addition, typing requires two hands (hopefully), which engages more of your brain. It is harder to retain what is being discussed if you are constantly typing away. This is why many people prefer paper and pen for taking notes. However, many there are many benefits to having your notes in digital format, easy sharing and faster searching prominent among them.

Taking digital notes on a Tablet PC gives me the best of both worlds. I use Microsoft OneNote (which is an awesome program if you've never used it) and write away. Having the laptop in tablet mode eliminates the physical barrier normally associated with laptops. You're only writing with one hand, so you're better able to listen (and able to make more eye contact). If it's a large meeting, many people probably won't even know you're on a computer. OneNote even has an amazing audio recording feature which allows you to record the meeting and view the exactly what was being said as you wrote a specific note. You can even add flags to your notes to designate follow-up items, important points, dates, etc. Finally, you can share your notes with your teammates during or after the meeting. There is great integration with Outlook for creating calendar items, tasks, or emailing someone on the spot.

Anyway, I didn't mean to sound like a shill for Microsoft, but OneNote and Tablet PC's has really transformed how I take notes. It gives me the best of both paper and digital note taking.

YMMV,

 

[mavakil]

I tend to use paper mind maps as my basic note-taking format, since I'm very visually oriented.

A Man after my own heart. I too am a mindmap-er specially when it comes to taking notes. It takes a while to get the hang of it. But once you do, magic happens.

Below are the advantages I've experienced when mindmapping a meeting rather than taking linear notes:

- Can organise my notes no matter what's the flow of the meeting. Structured meetings start with one Agenda item, discuss it thread bare, then move to the next item. In that case I just make a branch for each Agenda item. If it's an unstructured meeting and we're bouncing around agenda items, my notes still follow a structured fashion and I still very easily record each point under it's respective branch for the Agenda item.

- I can recall a lot more of the meeting, and in lot more detail

- I can glance over almost all points discussed in a meeting by just looking at the 1 page of the mind map.

- I'm constantly critically thinking throughout the meeting. Always, asking myself what's the point he's trying to make here (as that would sometimes make a branch).

- Helps me keep my notes organised as if there's sub-point to a matter discussed, I wouldn't just write it in the next line, but would

Just like Todd, I'm processing as and when I'm taking notes:
- My Next Actions either have a separate branch in the mind map or more often, I write them on the top left hand corner of the page.
- If it's a meeting where I have to reserve my questions till the end, I note that on the top right-hand corner of the page.
- The mindmap itself is mostly for reference, really good-points that were discussed which I would like to retain, but no action on it for now.

Hope that helped.

Arif Vakil
Bangalore, India

 

[ArcCaster]

I work for a software company -- everyone brings laptops to meetings.

I use MindManager for taking notes and, at first, was concerned that a few scattered words connected by lines would be hugely limiting.

Turns out it really leaves me with a picture of the meeting -- where we spent the most time, where we dived down into excruciating detail, where we glossed over at the top level, where I want to pick up for future meetings or for personal exploration, what I might want to build on in the same meeting, how I might want to pull things together in the same meeting.

Words, occasional phrases, and relationships tween them do a lot.

And, using a laptop allows me to drag fragments into their proper places as the picture emerges (which it often does very non-sequentially)

Regards,
Rob

 

[jmy]

My preferred note taking tool is OmniOutliner, and I'll sometimes use MindManager for brainstorming during meetings. My OO notes are pretty much "stream of consciousness", just capturing what's said as it's said. I go back after the meeting and review the notes for action items. MM and OO have worked pretty well for me, but I'd like to hear how other people take notes in meetings. Thanks!

While searching for mind mapping software, I stumbled across a program called Compendium (http://compendium.open.ac.uk/institute/about.htm). This in turn led me to Dialogue Mapping (http://www.cognexus.org/id41.htm) which is what this program is designed to help with. My understanding is that dialogue mapping captures the issues that arise in meetings and facilitates shared understanding of these issues by all meeting participants. I gather that this would contrast strongly to capturing the "stream of consciousness" that you mentioned.

You can browse to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxS5wUljfjE for "...a short YouTube demo illustrating the difference between conversational structure and issue-based structure."

A book was written entitled "Dialogue Mapping: Building Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems" (http://www.cognexus.org/dm_book.htm). A few chapters of the book are available for download in PDF format from http://cognexus.org/parts.htm.

Chapter 1, `Wicked Problems and Social Complexity', tells the story of three forces that fragment projects just as surely as rain creates mud: wicked problems, social complexity, and technical complexity. This chapter seeks to illuminate the chronic low-level organizational pain that these forces create

Chapter 1 direct download link is http://www.cognexus.org/wpf/wickedproblems.pdf

Chapter 3, `The Dialogue Mapping Experience', tells the story of a fictional dialogue mapping session. It's not quite the same as being in a session, but you can get the gist of how it works

Chapter 3 direct download link is http://cognexus.org/dme/dmepaper.pdf

Chapter 4, `IBIS: A Tool for all Reasons', presents a tutorial on the issue-based information system (IBIS) notation of questions and ideas, pros and cons

Chapter 4 direct download link is http://www.cognexus.org/IBIS-A_Tool_for_All_Reasons.pdf

Hope this helps.

 

[MsB]

Nice topic!

I use a simpler form, adapted from the Cornell method. The left third is a one column, the right third is another column, and the bottom fourth is a single row. The left column is headed "My Actions". The right column is headed "Notes". The bottom row is headed "Summary." At the very top are little labels for "Topic:" and "Date:"

So, as the meeting begins, I write down the topic/subject at the top of the page, and the date. I then take notes in the large column on the right. If I'm assigned or take on any work, I note that in the "My Actions" column. At the end, if needed, I rewrite the notes into a concise, well-worded summary in the row at the bottom.

The paper goes into my inbox, of course.

Brent this sounds similar to what I want to use. Do you have three vertical columns? And did you make your own template or purchase a pre-made one? Thanks in advance

 

[clango]

Notes or Actions

I didn't read all the posts, so....however...

I prefer to use paper, try to organize a column on the right, transform the notes in actions or directly the title for a new project and then I use also the simbols suggested somewhere here ( - ; -> ....) so later when I'll input in outlook I'll be faster.

Hoping it helps

 

[SGTM]

I just use simple legal pads and as I am taking notes use either a R A W. In the margins. R= Results - a new goal, A = Action - something I need to do and W = Waiting - something someone owes me. After the meeting I can review the notes and make sure things are appropriately notes. This cuts out rewriting, which is the goal of my system.

Gerry