We’ve all been in meetings with people don’t feel the need to take notes. At first, you might be astonished by that person’s intelligence—what a champion of both long- and short-term memory! These feelings tend to diminish when, two days later, that person can’t remember what his or her assignment was or anything else that came up during the meeting.
If you’re one of those folks who thinks their synapses fire just a little faster than everyone else’s, please, stop it. Start taking actual notes. It is an easy, practical way to increase your effectiveness and prevent your colleagues’ heads from exploding. A win-win!
There are a lot of different styles of note-taking … some of which do not actually involve taking notes.
Note Taker 101: This person is unfamiliar with the concept of taking “notes” and is skeptical of utilizing any manual or electronic means to record information. This person has never written so much as a grocery list. He or she navigates through life contemptuous of the need to remember anything. It’s like someone is filming a more boring, irritating version of “Memento” at your office.
Note Taker Impostor: This person always carries a notepad, always appears engaged in a meeting, and can always be seen scribbling something on a notepad. But later, you will discover there were never any notes. It’s possible your colleague is secretly a mime.
The “Almost” Note Taker: This is a person who diligently takes notes at all meetings, but whose office has “priority” piles that brush against the ceiling. People like this usually recall what happened, but judging from the giant piles of paperwork in their office, you’re always a little suspicious of their accuracy. (Pro tip: Don’t look in that person’s office.) Note-taking skills are A+, recall ability is a B-. Your colleague needs an organizational guru.
Note Taker Tech: Now this person looks the part—fingers are firmly planted on a smartphone, tablet or laptop, typing notes directly into the cloud, where the information can be protected forever. Brilliant!
Except, not really. This person is buried in tech and fails to really listen to and engage with other people in the meeting—undermining one of the top reasons for calling a meeting! Whatever productivity gains are produced by this person’s tech are usually lost because colleagues have to bring them up to speed on everything they missed while typing.
Note Taker Tech Extraordinaire: This person is the real deal and can use a tablet while still contributing to the meeting. Folks like this have a trick: They only take down keywords in their notes. Then, after the meeting, they go back and expand on those keywords. As a bonus, they’re often the folks who will circulate their notes to everybody else. You will both marvel at and slightly hate these people because they are “that good.” They have skills.
The Typical Note Taker: Using plain old pen and paper, this paragon of humanity fully participates in the meeting and has the ability to recall what he or she scribbled on paper. Fabulous!
Even better, this is a learnable skill we can all adopt! Just keep one main notepad that you always take notes in—this will make it easier to keep track of your notes. Use bullets and keywords during the meeting so you don’t put your head down. Look at the notes when the meeting is over to expand on, and know your follow-up items. Refer back to the notes and cross off the tasks as you complete them.
Find a method that works best for you, and put an end to “memory loss.” Quit making someone else remind you of a project or task that you discussed weeks prior. It really does work once you find your note-taking groove.
