Take Notes

A few weeks after my promotion to manager, my boss gave me advice that lasted my career. We were about to meet with his boss. He said to me, "Always take notes when you meet with him. At the end, read back his instructions to be sure you understood what to do." Frankly, he was being mean about his own boss, but I followed the advice for more than thirty years. My experience is that no senior manager and no group resents your reviewing the key points at the end of a meeting.

We all have been in meetings that are interpreted differently by various participants. Language is not always precise. We inadvertently miss some of the discussion. Our experience provides different filters.

Taking personal notes is not the same as taking minutes, and relying on official minutes is insufficient for management purposes. Detailed personal notes taken in "politically" sensitive situations ensures that later we know who said what. More commonly, notes should be a tailored record of key points and decisions. Certainly, notes must contain actions we have commited to undertake, complete with timeframes.

Date the notes and add a list of participants. I prefered to take notes on sheets of paper so I could put them in files with other related papers. Other people prefer to use a notebook so pages don't get misplaced. Find your own working style. Your listening skills will improve, and you will be more organized.