5 ms·

I think every brain might be wired differently and a different approach might work better for some people. But if I'm trying to make notes in a meeting, I can'

I think every brain might be wired differently and a different approach might work better for some people. But if I'm trying to make notes in a meeting, I can't listen to a speaker argue some nuanced point in a meeting while furiously trying to jot things down. An approach that works for me is to have the meeting and try and pay undivided attention to it, then have 5-10 uninterrupted minutes at the end while everything is in short term memory to summarize it. If somehow I don't remember a point, it's usually not important enough to write down. I'd say if 2 people in a meeting take that approach and and consolidate their notes at the end, you're going to get a complete picture of what just happened.

joshuamorton 5y ago
I think there's a bit more to it than this: note taking is more than just writing stuff down, its engaged with the process of having a well run meeting. First, figure out the goal of your meeting: is it to share information (a standup, all-hands, etc.), come to a technical decision/consensus, something else? I'll focus on the second. Your goal is to come to a decision, or resolve an open question. You have a stakeholder presumably, as well as some people with insight/opinions. You should define a few roles: meeting runner, note taker, and stakeholder. These can often be the same person, but are also often different people. The meeting runner does just that, they manage time, ensure people have a chance to speak, and generally referee and make sure things get done. The note taker takes notes, not an exact transcription, but detailed, attributed to speakers, etc. The stakeholder is somewhat responsible for the outcome, makes sure that they are happy with the result and manages AIs. Note that these roles can't belong to any of the people who are presenting/arguing/disagreeing. Also, in practice, they can't belong to the least senior people in the room. Those people are probably going to be more actively involved in the meeting, while the people refereeing can sit back, ask questions and guide the discussion, with ample time to digest and take notes. As someone who has at various points been both the active participant and the various stakeholder/notetaker/ref, it's a bad time if you have to do both. Notetaking takes up too much mental energy. I can't actively answer questions while taking notes. I can often ask them, if something isn't clear while I'm taking notes, it's sometimes extra obvious, so I can chime in with a question or a brief clarification, but anything more than that and you're likely to miss something. This also, with the timekeeping, means that if the notetaker misses something, you already have the broad structure of the meeting written down, so others can chime in with anything forgotten, or add other follow-ups and action items. Then, you can email the whole summary out, and anyone who missed the meeting can see what was discussed, how the decision was reached, and follow-ups, and that's useful in case not all experts were able to be in the room, or as a reference for the future.
warkdarrior 5y ago
One thing to consider is that taking notes in a meeting is not about recording all information that is communicated. The key is to summarize the high-level point ("we cannot take approach X"), who stated it ("according to Bob"), and why ("because X will slow down Y"). This gives you sufficient info to reconstruct the main message and to know who to ask for more detail if needed.
- bluGill 5y ago
  I tell myself that, but in truth the main value in taking notes is it forces me to pay attention. When I'm not daydreaming about how I would make the last point in a different way (thus missing the current one), or thinking about whatever project I'm doing at home I get a lot more out of the talk. I sometimes pretend I'm translating to Spanish (I don't know near enough Spanish to do this, but in my mind it is okay to make the English words with a Spanish ending and not worry if anyone else would understand). this doesn't work as well, but it still keeps my mind on listening and so I get more out of it.
  - puchatek 5y ago
    Muy cleverito
    - hnedeotes 5y ago
      When the CEO asks what you think about it, just go Chico, this no bueno!
- mgr86 5y ago
  I take a similair approach. Write down the important points and who stated them. Often times I will simply lead with the Bob: and not write "according to"
XorNot 5y ago
This is what I feel - I've done aggressive note taking, and then realized after a period of like 5 minutes I cannot recall a thing that was actually said or discussed. ...which, if the notes are the goal - why have the meeting? If they're not, then they're not needed. In practice, I have fairly good recall, but there's also the basic element that I'm really struggling to recall any meetings I've ever had where anything useful actually got discussed (that couldn't have been an email). Maybe last week when I got my manager to explain some wider context of a project in a 1 on 1, but frankly, my current team has issues that none of the stakeholders have produced any briefing or priming documents (way more organizations should look at how the military structures briefings and provides operational context - they do a better job then the rest of us).
marcyb5st 5y ago
Yes! I agree! My way to avoid that is: - avoid taking notes until a topic is exhausted - be the "obnoxious guy" that always says: "so, recapping blah blah blah". - If everyone agrees to my recap I write that down.

joshuamorton 5y ago

I think there's a bit more to it than this: note taking is more than just writing stuff down, its engaged with the process of having a well run meeting. First, figure out the goal of your meeting: is it to share information (a standup, all-hands, etc.), come to a technical decision/consensus, something else? I'll focus on the second. Your goal is to come to a decision, or resolve an open question. You have a stakeholder presumably, as well as some people with insight/opinions. You should define a few roles: meeting runner, note taker, and stakeholder. These can often be the same person, but are also often different people. The meeting runner does just that, they manage time, ensure people have a chance to speak, and generally referee and make sure things get done. The note taker takes notes, not an exact transcription, but detailed, attributed to speakers, etc. The stakeholder is somewhat responsible for the outcome, makes sure that they are happy with the result and manages AIs. Note that these roles can't belong to any of the people who are presenting/arguing/disagreeing. Also, in practice, they can't belong to the least senior people in the room. Those people are probably going to be more actively involved in the meeting, while the people refereeing can sit back, ask questions and guide the discussion, with ample time to digest and take notes. As someone who has at various points been both the active participant and the various stakeholder/notetaker/ref, it's a bad time if you have to do both. Notetaking takes up too much mental energy. I can't actively answer questions while taking notes. I can often ask them, if something isn't clear while I'm taking notes, it's sometimes extra obvious, so I can chime in with a question or a brief clarification, but anything more than that and you're likely to miss something. This also, with the timekeeping, means that if the notetaker misses something, you already have the broad structure of the meeting written down, so others can chime in with anything forgotten, or add other follow-ups and action items. Then, you can email the whole summary out, and anyone who missed the meeting can see what was discussed, how the decision was reached, and follow-ups, and that's useful in case not all experts were able to be in the room, or as a reference for the future.

warkdarrior 5y ago

One thing to consider is that taking notes in a meeting is not about recording all information that is communicated. The key is to summarize the high-level point ("we cannot take approach X"), who stated it ("according to Bob"), and why ("because X will slow down Y"). This gives you sufficient info to reconstruct the main message and to know who to ask for more detail if needed.

bluGill 5y ago
I tell myself that, but in truth the main value in taking notes is it forces me to pay attention. When I'm not daydreaming about how I would make the last point in a different way (thus missing the current one), or thinking about whatever project I'm doing at home I get a lot more out of the talk. I sometimes pretend I'm translating to Spanish (I don't know near enough Spanish to do this, but in my mind it is okay to make the English words with a Spanish ending and not worry if anyone else would understand). this doesn't work as well, but it still keeps my mind on listening and so I get more out of it.
- puchatek 5y ago
  Muy cleverito
  - hnedeotes 5y ago
    When the CEO asks what you think about it, just go Chico, this no bueno!
mgr86 5y ago
I take a similair approach. Write down the important points and who stated them. Often times I will simply lead with the Bob: and not write "according to"

XorNot 5y ago

This is what I feel - I've done aggressive note taking, and then realized after a period of like 5 minutes I cannot recall a thing that was actually said or discussed. ...which, if the notes are the goal - why have the meeting? If they're not, then they're not needed. In practice, I have fairly good recall, but there's also the basic element that I'm really struggling to recall any meetings I've ever had where anything useful actually got discussed (that couldn't have been an email). Maybe last week when I got my manager to explain some wider context of a project in a 1 on 1, but frankly, my current team has issues that none of the stakeholders have produced any briefing or priming documents (way more organizations should look at how the military structures briefings and provides operational context - they do a better job then the rest of us).

marcyb5st 5y ago

Yes! I agree! My way to avoid that is: - avoid taking notes until a topic is exhausted - be the "obnoxious guy" that always says: "so, recapping blah blah blah". - If everyone agrees to my recap I write that down.