How to Take Good Meeting Notes

Steps to Effective Note Taking at Work

One of the keys to performing well in occupations that involve numerous meetings is good note taking. Taking good notes can help one stay focused during boring meetings, serve as great reference material for the future, and even help kinesthetic learners better retain what they've heard.

Steps to Effective Note Taking at Work:

1. Open your mind. Begin thinking of note taking as a way to free up time in your future versus a waste of time and energy or a necessary evil. By taking good notes that are easy to scan at a later date you will retain the information better and save time when it's time to revisit the information. You're stuck in the meeting anyway, so if taking good notes now can free up time later, why not try it?

2. Identify the notes. At the top of the page write (or type) the date, the title, type, or purpose of the meeting. For example: April 4, 2008 - Staff meeting

3. List attendees. If desired or necessary document the presenter and/or attendees of the meeting.

4. Structure your notes in outline format. Remember the dreaded outlines of our youth? Utilize an alpha and numeric numbering system to keep what you are hearing organized. Always think ahead. If there is a meeting agenda, you can often use the topics listed on the agenda as a guide. Outline format will save you tons of time when reviewing or trying to find key points weeks or months down the line.

5. Think "Need to Know". Document all the key items that you need to remember or retrieve at a later date, but keep what you actually write or type brief. For example, Instead of taking the time to write "Beginning in September the committee decided that we will reduce the price for blue pillows to $15", write "beginning Sept, blue pillows $15". These are your notes, so don't hesitate to abbreviate or use personalized shortcuts. Just make sure you'll remember what your "personal shorthand" represents.