Effective notetaking is a vital tool to help you and your colleagues get ahead. At every stage in your career, making the most of meetings is a challenge you can only face with the right tools and the right expertise to stay ahead. Our guide is full of useful tips and advice, so read on to raise your notetaking game.
Here to work
It’s important to be prepared before you go into the meeting. Think about what information you need to get from others – and what you need to share. There are different styles of note-taking that suit different kinds of meetings, from daily briefings to long-term planning sessions. Be prepared to adjust your note-taking style to suit the situation.
You should also make sure you have the right tools ready. It might be the traditional notepad and pen, or you could go down the digital route – there are a lot of different options. It’s also important to explore what tools can make the biggest impact; a simple word processor could allow you to type as you go, but a specialised tool for your work could help you organise your notes more efficiently.
Here to learn
It’s vital to define your objectives before you go into a meeting. Meetings with purpose create positive outcomes and improve your productivity, but aimless meetings can drag down your efficiency, wasting time. Knowing what you and your team need to achieve is vital to success.
When you’re in the meeting, you should always keep those objectives in mind. Letting a meeting drift off-topic, or losing sight of your own objectives, can stop you from getting the most out of a meeting. It’s not necessary to take down every word that’s said, but picking out key information and recording it properly can make all the difference.
Here to listen
A modern, dynamic workplace moves quickly. That means meetings move quickly too, and it’s important to be prepared for whatever comes next. That’s why a flexible and dynamic approach to notetaking is vital; you need to be ready to adapt and change as you work.
It’s also important to go into every meeting with an open mind, ready to listen and learn. You should be actively listening, avoiding distractions, and staying ready to hear what others have to say. It’s also important to mentally digest the main points of a meeting as you record them, ensuring that you have a clear understanding of the direction your team are taking, rather than just specific words and phrases.
Here to achieve
Some of the most important parts of a meeting happen after it ends. It’s vital to review and organise your notes, and store them appropriately, turning them from simple notes to a usable and useful record to help you. A dedicated recording tool, designed for the work you need to get done, can be the key to achieving success in this process.
Having your own notes is one thing, but being able to share them is even more important. You and your team should always be on the same page, so connectivity and communication are vital. It’s important to be able to connect through a unified and compatible system, especially one that provides the tools to record your data accurately.
Finding the right solution to help you in this process can be a huge challenge, but we’re here to help you. Our sector-focused portfolios include tools to help you record data and information accurately, making vital insights available for your organisation. You could also benefit from our meetings and board management module, designed to help you lead your organisation to success.