Taking Effective Minutes

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

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Topics: Communications Management, Knowledge Management, Lessons Learned

In the world of project management, documentation is often a weak link. Discussions are had in meetings and hallways--and usually the only record is the memory of the people involved (and as most of us would attest, memories are imperfect records). While the project manager cannot do very much to account for hallway or elevator conversation, the project manager should work very hard to make sure that any meetings are documented very carefully so that all parties are aware of what was discussed and what the decisions were during the meeting.

Here are a few pointers for making sure that effective minutes are captured in the meetings that happen during the project…

One Recorder
First, there should be one person in the meeting whose only responsibility is to capture the minutes of the meeting. It is important that this person have a good understanding of what is being discussed so that they are not completely lost in the discussion. This person should also not be a key participant in the discussion as their focus should be on capturing the minutes, not participating.

Fulfilling this role is an excellent opportunity for a project analyst or a business analyst; it is possible to learn a great deal just by taking minutes at project discussions. Everyone should be aware of whose responsibility it is to take the minutes. At times, it is ideal that the recorder be…

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