The Importance of Taking Notes

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Alfredo Scaini

All too many times people come to meetings with pen and paper, and then leave with nothing substantial written down. Unless you are one of those individuals with the incredible ability to recall everything that was said during a meeting, why would you not write down what was discussed?

Why You?

First thing to do before attending a meeting is to know why you are being invited. This is important as it defines what kind of notes you need to take.

Technical Adviser Role

If you have a technical background you may be invited in order to provide advice and explanations to those other invitees who may not understand the technical aspects that will be discussed.

When in these meetings, you should be jotting down what is being proposed and the solutions/advice/risks that you or others spoke of during the meeting. You should also be jotting down any date sensitive topics that came up in the discussion (deadlines, timelines, etc).

Why do I Need to do this – What are Other People Writing Down?

Simple. You were asked to attend because you know more about the technical side of this stuff than the people who asked you to attend. When the meeting is over, these people will have only their notes to rely on which were written from their point of view. For example, a graphic designer is probably taking notes specific to the issues surrounding graphic design and trying their best at summarizing what you’re saying. He/she may not understand or want to record the nitty gritty of using cURL to access external content, or why it’s not a good idea to use WSDL for this project.

The people who invited you to this meeting did so for a reason – to get your point of view. Do them a favor and summarize your notes in simple, easy to understand language and send it to them in an email – it will help them to remember what you discussed so that they make informed decisions.

Clarification and Decision Making Role

If you are working on a project and are invited to a meeting to discuss the current stage of the project, chances are that you’ve been invited to help clarify things and/or explain how things are going (good or bad).

In these kinds of meetings the client is either asking for changes, clarification on wire frames or designs, or just a heads up on how things are going if there were questions that arose in the status reports (you are providing status reports aren’t you?). Be sure to jot down what is being asked for and decisions being made.

Because your involved in this project your name is attached to it, so write down what’s been discussed and then provide a summary to either your PM or the client directly (if there was no PM). Writing it down helps you to remember what you need to do as well as decisions that were made. This is important, especially when there are decisions you don’t agree with.

You’re a developer, you know how things work and what works best. If a decision is made that you disagree with, voice your concern during the meeting and be sure to include your concerns in your email summary (in a nice, diplomatic way of course). In this way, if things blow up because of the decision – your PM or client will have a written record that you did warn them.

Why Can’t I just Write Notes Down Afterwards?

Ah … you’re one of those people that can remember everything that was discussed an hour ago, a day ago or a week ago. Awesome – I wish I had the same recall ability.

Unfortunately most people fall under the, “I can probably only correctly recall about 50-70% of what was discussed … if I think hard about it” category. This means that you will not be able to provide a complete and accurate account of the meeting.

Write things down during the meeting. You’ll be better off.

Best Note Taking Style

I’ve found that the best way to write notes is point-form or in a hierarchical outline style. By organizing your notes from the start it will be easier to summarize them later for your PM or the client. Jot down what you feel is important and underline, box or use uppercase for Action items.

What’s an Action Item?

An Action item is something where someone is to perform a task after the meeting. I am amazed by how people are asked (“actioned”) to perform a task, don’t write it down and then come to the follow up meeting two weeks later and forgot that they were assigned that task … sometimes even after they were provided with a summary of the meeting ….

Write it down and highlight it – it’ll be easier for you to remember to do it.

I’ll Just Get the Notes from Someone Else

Good luck with this. Like I said above, people write down notes based on their perspective and point of view. What they’ve written down may not necessarily have what you need which can cost you later on – especially when your name is attached to a project, or you were actioned to perform a task which wasn’t jotted down in their notes.

Don’t get lazy with taking notes.