María del Mar EspejoERP Project Manager| Futbol Club BarcelonaCerdanyola Del Valles, Ct, Spain
In my view, collecting and sharing the main points of meetings is a good way to reconfirm that all attendees are aligned after the meeting and that everyone has understood the same thing. Saving Changes...
Gaolape BathaiStrategy Coordinator| Botswana Unified Revenue ServiceGaborone, So, Botswana
Taking notes is critical. It provides for capturing resolutions made, identified risks, and action items. This is required to keep everyone who plays a key role in the project to be informed and do their part. Saving Changes...
Meeting minutes... Record your next meeting, review the recording, and list everything important that was said. How long is your list? The answer will vary.
I've known people who document every word and who said what. Nobody is going to read that. Personally, I capture:
- Key points that are relevant to what has happened, what is happening, or what needs to happen relative to the project. When it matters, I also capture who made the key points. I don't capture conversations, although I may capture that a topic was discussed and the outcome of the discussion, if it is pertinent to the project.
- Action Items - any new tasks that aren't already covered in a plan or task list, and specifics such as who is responsible, target date if applicable, etc.
- Decisions made during the meeting and who authorized them.
If there are updates to the project schedule, risk log, issues list, etc... I don't take notes on those, I update the relevant list/document.
The type of meeting also influences what I take notes on. When I've been a scrum master/agile coach, nobody took notes during standup meetings unless it was a specific individual writing down something specific that he or she needed to do, following the meeting.
Good approach
I also test if what I read is useful for me Saving Changes...
Housam KremaCorporate Strategy Specialist | Libyana Mobile PhonesTripoli, Libya
Yes, taking meeting notes is always good practice, however its level of details depends on the level of formality associated with it, in the least formal one you will just need to take note of action items, and more formal one you will take note of all discussion points, decisions, action item ,etc Saving Changes...
As already competently commented by the experimented colleagues, there is no doubt, except in the case of contractual clauses, tha minutes are a must to give formal north and register to thr next steps in a project. The issue is addessed, in my opinion, is to find how you can conduct this task. Many scenarios can be visualized depending on the kind of tools, medias and team members profiles, as well the environment and project as per se. The most important part of this task is tge monitoring if, in the next meeting, the most part of participant linked to the subject is aware of what was discussed and really contribute to the development of the topic which resulted in the minutes insertion, as it was registered. Thanks for sharing so outstanding experiences on the matter, pals. Regards. Saving Changes...
In my experience, I've only even done Meeting Minutes for formal meetings I have organised which have a proper agenda.
Anything that wasn't a meeting with an agenda (ie, informal or adhoc meeting) I might make notes for myself, but I wouldn't be doing any meeting minutes for it. Saving Changes...
Product Operations Program ManagerBarcelona, Cataluña, Spain
Meeting notes are relevant. Without them, the derived actions and decisions taken have the risk of being forgotten.
However, sending a word file with the minutes is old fashioned and ineffective. Nowadays there are plenty of tools that allow a quick, cooperative and efficient way of capturing and assigning action items, register decisions, open items, risks, etc. Saving Changes...
Vijay SuryavanshiProject Manager - Engineering| RECARO Aircraft SeatingPlantation, Fl, United States
I am not sure if meeting notes is the right place to capture updates to the plan and risk. But meeting notes like what Susan and Veronica say are important from the point of view of decisions made, who is responsible for what action, .... Also, helps document things and refer back if required as to what was discussed. I would make definitely the meeting notes especially if it is external meeting involving all stakeholders and customers. (It it is internal, I usually record items for which I have to take action alone. Works for me.) Saving Changes...
Shivani DarjiDirector, Program Operations and Analytics| Change HealthcareSuwanee, Ga, United States
Not for all meetings but for meetings with key stakeholders on major projects, yes. Most of the times decisions are made and there are action items so it is important to take note of these and send them out afterwards as not everyone likes to take notes in the meetings. Having these also serves as a method to ensure all project stakeholders are on the same page after meetings, especially since people like to multi-task during meetings. And if not, it offers the chance to reconnect and get clarity.
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1 reply by Vijay Suryavanshi
Jan 04, 2023 10:09 AM
Vijay Suryavanshi
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Agree completely with Shivani.
And I am one of those who make updates as I conduct the meetings. (Usually internal). If it is external meetings, I usually send a MOM to all participants (or stakeholders) to make sure we are on the page.
Saving Changes...
Vijay SuryavanshiProject Manager - Engineering| RECARO Aircraft SeatingPlantation, Fl, United States
Jan 04, 2023 9:35 AM
Replying to Shivani Darji
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Not for all meetings but for meetings with key stakeholders on major projects, yes. Most of the times decisions are made and there are action items so it is important to take note of these and send them out afterwards as not everyone likes to take notes in the meetings. Having these also serves as a method to ensure all project stakeholders are on the same page after meetings, especially since people like to multi-task during meetings. And if not, it offers the chance to reconnect and get clarity.
Agree completely with Shivani.
And I am one of those who make updates as I conduct the meetings. (Usually internal). If it is external meetings, I usually send a MOM to all participants (or stakeholders) to make sure we are on the page. Saving Changes...
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