There are very few things you can do in a meeting that will make you stand out. Taking meeting minutes and sending them to the participants after meeting, is one sure shot way of appearing professional.
In this post, I will look at how to take meeting minutes to save valuable time and not miss out on any details.
Below is an infographic with all 7 tips on how to take meeting minutes, however here is my take away from the infographic. The infographic is produced by Citrix GoToMeeting.
Tip #1 – Take notes by hand
Laptops may encourage us to write more than pen and paper, but can prove huge distraction! Plus, studies repeatedly show students who use longhand remember more and have a deeper understand of what they’ve heard.
Do you know what is a longhand and shorthand writing? This article explains the difference between shorthand vs longhand.
Personally, I take notes by hand. However, I use shorthand for taking notes. I can’t seem to follow longhand when taking detailed notes.
The key thing here is, take notes by hand… I don’t get people who take notes on their laptop. Because that is noisy and annoying!
Tip #2 – Don’t capture everything
This would be my top tip if you asked me how to take meeting minutes?
Don’t capture everything. There will be lots of off-topic discussions and stuff that is not important or useful to the meeting.
ALSO READ: 10 Meeting Room Designs You Won’t Believe Are Real
Tip #3 – Use abbreviations / acronyms where possible
I do this all the time whilst taking meeting minutes. I start by writing participant names, e.g.:
- Joe Bloggs (JB)
- Sara Caucus (SC)
- Xianog Zing (XZ)
And when I am taking meeting minutes, I usually write JB – Check with IT for a solution (Action)
Use initials, abbreviations, acronyms etc wherever possible. You should be able to understand your notes, everyone else will get a nicely written electronic copy of the meeting notes, so don’t worry about anyone else understanding your notes.
To see remainder of the tips on how to take meeting minutes to save you time, see the infographic below.
How to take meeting minutes?
