Last time, I shared my tips for taking notes as the official recorder. The role is easily defined but what do you do when you are a participant? As a participant, it’s a bit more challenges and you’re facing numerous obstacles: You need to actively engage in the discussion, handle disruptions like incoming calls, texts or emails, manage interruptions by colleagues entering the office or meeting room. And still take notes for yourself?

At the beginning of the meeting, you may want to let your client know that you’ll be taking notes.

1.       It can be challenging to actively partake in the discussion, really concentrate on your client and type what’s being said simultaneously. Remember, there’s no need to record the meeting word-for-word. Focus on the major developments, decisions and actions.

2.       Experiment with how you write what. Check out these signs and abbreviations which will save you time plus your client cannot easily interpret them.

3.       As an alternative to writing notes in a chronological order, you can work with quadrant notes. Divide a piece of paper into 4 quadrant and label them according to what you want to get out the meeting. This could be 1) actions, 2) decisions, 3) issues and 4) questions, as an example.

4.       Another alternative is mind mapping. Our minds often jump from one topic to the next, closely linked topic. Drawing a mind map starts with one central theme and then explores the sounding topics. It allows to easily connect the different ideas and is particular appealing to visual people.

5.       Regardless of which form you chose, don’t bury your head. Nobody expects you to write without looking down on your notepad occasionally, however, maintain a good amount of eye contact. It may be easier to type blindly and keep looking at your client, for just as long as you would without taking the notes.

6.       If you need some time to gather your thoughts, you pause and ask your client for a minute: “Let me just summarise what we said. … Is this a correct recap of our discussion and actions so far?”

7.       When coming to close to the meeting, are the next steps clear? If not, clarify it with your client. Use this time to also confirm the next steps, the action owners and the due dates.

8.       Will you share the notes with your client? Consider emailing them a copy of the actions, decisions and open issues. It provides them with an opportunity to review the meeting and bring up any change requests. Should any disagreement arise in the future, you’ll have documented what’s been discussed and agreed in these meetings.

9.       Keep an electronic copy of the notes in the folder related to this client. Check the last post for more tips on storing the notes.

10.     Schedule time in your diary to work on the actions or clarify any open questions assigned to you.

These top 10 tips will help you to actively engage in your client meeting and more importantly, keep track of the agreed decisions and actions. They will increase your productivity level and they’ll guide your work for the next meeting. What’s your experience with taking notes? What method has worked best for you so far? I’m looking forward to hearing your tips.

Until next time,
Agni