@cybrown: Yes, you could get labeled as a kiss ass for doing that unsolicited. Also, I wouldn't recommend any women do what this article says because it's a great way to be viewed as a glorified admin assistant no matter what your position actually is.

eighth_note

@cybrown: I agree that it would make you an ass-kisser. However, the corporate life isn't for those that don't like to taste a little ass.

t2technology

@cybrown: It seems out of line to me as well. It also seems like you are asking to get the job of note-taker dumped on you as well.

christophert

@cybrown: Agreed. It also seems like it would be pretty likely that you would become the designated note-taker from then on....

christophert

This article recommends sending your notes to the meeting leader afterward, even if you're not the designated note-taker. Does anyone else think that this will immediately identify you as an ass-kisser? I can understand taking detailed notes so that if the boss later has questions, you have specific, detailed answers, but actually _sending_ the notes unasked seems a bit out of line to me.

cybrown

All good points, positioning yourself is within your company is important. Being known as the person with "great ideas" is a good position to be, but being the "very organized go to person" is not a bad spot either. Especially in a job market where everyone is expected to have multiple skills. There is always a need for that person who oils the cogs and keeps track of what was said, who is going to do what, etc. For people that excel in this area, the post makes good points. It is another way to get noticed and add value to an organization. If this is you, another way to take it to the next level, is to use the publish feature of qipit to share your uber-cool note taken skills, show off your stellar penmanship and add some extra value to your company. Not everyone can be an idea premadonna.

chametner

Or, you could just bring your laptop and read your email during the meeting. Works for me. If you aren't in a corporation that locks down you, in the worst place you could unwind by playing solitaire.

IAmMarchHare

I always end up drawing cars on my notepads. I have about 4 whole notepads full of Mercedes, BMW and Lexus cars drawn on them during meetings from my summer internship that I am about to return to.

Webran61

My favorite boring-meeting activity is to make lists. I try to list all the 50 states, all 43 presidents, all the countries in Africa, all the counties in my state, etc. It's a great way to pass the time and still look busy

yalestar

I've actually been doing this for the last year. Yes, I became the official note taker. But, I've found it beneficial for the following reasons:

A) I don't look stupid anymore when someone asks me a question when I haven't been paying attention.
B) By controlling what to include or not, how much detail to provide, and what words to use, I essentially offer my own personal commentary on the content. In other words, my voice always gets heard.
C) I've found that by really observing people and how they communicate and interact, and then attempting to capture some of these subtleties, they become more interesting. The meetings become more an avenue for discovery and less a dull waste of time.
D) I occaisionally inject random observations about people's behavior and quote any jokes directly. This makes the meetings and notes more fun.
E) I get a lot of feedback from people who say they like the notes and actually find them worth reading, especially if they weren't there. It's nice to be appreciated.

On days where I'm not motivated, the notes just come out really brief.
I'm not doing it to earn points with anyone. I'm doing it to make life more interesting and less dull.

EricSoderberg

I've been doing this for last year. Yes, I did end up becoming the designated note taker. But, that doesn't bother me as I can always reduce the density of the notes if I'm just not into them that day. The reasons I like the job are:
A) I don't look embarrassed when someone asks me a question and I haven't been paying attention
B) I can tailor the wording and flavor of the notes in a way that makes sense to me, which is a subtle way of getting to offer your own commentary on the content
C) I can add my own humor and infrequent side-bar comments about the tone and atmosphere of the meeting, any jokes get added verbatim as quotes, etc. Which makes the overall process more fun and less dull.
D) It makes it interesting to observe more closely the way people are communicating and attempt to capture some of those subtleties. I've come to find people much more fascinating by doing this, and I think ends up helping us all work more like human beings and less like cogs in a machine.
E) I get a lot of feedback from people who say, thanks for taking the notes, I actually find them useful now. It's nice to feel appreciated.

EricSoderberg

From the article... taking (and sharing) meeting notes results in:
"breeds respect and approval from superiors", and "rewarded with respect and trust"

I'm relying on my normal job duties to gain respect, approval, and trust from both peers and superiors...

but taking _personal_ meeting notes is how I stay knowledgeable of the issues and have enough details for later reference. It's remarkable how often someone asks 'who worked on issue XYZ?', and I'd be able to find that information quickly.

If I send the meeting notes out afterwards, it needs to be almost immediately after the meeting. I'm not being paid to word-smith the notes all day. I'm not sure if anyone ever even looks at them afterwards, but they are really for me and the benefits are still enormous.

ericslaw

I ended up posting my meeting notes on the corporate wiki and got a raise because of it; apparently, it's the little things you do that count beyond your job responsibilities.

Prolific Programmer

I've attended online meetings when my boss presented the company's products. I took notes of what was shown on the screen, questions asked, etc. so that the presenter could focus on the demo.

I also pointed out in the transcript times when the communication broke down and even inserted cautions about promising new features.

My boss found them helpful to go over and was sometimes amazed... Is that what I said? It helped cut down on scope creep and gave my boss time to reflect on how others may have perceived was going on.

mondotofu

I'm an intermittent note-taker in interesting class lectures, but when it gets boring, my hands get busy to keep from falling asleep. Consequently, I have pages and pages of notes on subjects I'm less interested in, and fewer on those I care about, but at least I haven't embarrassed myself by snoring in front of an eminent scholar or something.

SW-2

I've tried this idea, but if the subject of the meeting just isn't interesting to you, no amount of trying to be interested will make the time pass any faster. I've actually spent months going to a meeting where my attendance was requested by the director and the subject of the meeting had nothing to do with my day to day activities. I would have drilled a hole in my head if it would help me stay awake (and I wasn't tired - just the meeting was too boring for normal people to withstand).

What works for me in this situation is to work on something I'm genuinely interested in. It could be a programming project, a shopping list, or even a little bit of email combined with some internet surfing. The trick is to not allow yourself to completely ignore the meeting - if you do, it will become obvious to those around you and you'll get called on for something. No one minds that you're not paying close attention, but they do mind if they feel you are ignoring them entirely. If you can respond to the meeting and do something to stimulate your interests at the same time, it looks more productive.

drsmith

I started doing this today, ironically about an hour before I read this article. I sent them to my boss as well, nothing there were a couple of key names and dates we might have had wanted written down.

Ashley927

As a corporate professional, I would say that taking detailed notes is extremely beneficial myself first and my colleagues secondly. And thirdly...it helps me stay focused on the meeting.

I think the problem that most people have with meetings is that they don't understand why they're there or the meeting is poorly planned and they shouldn't be there at all. But I see that as a completely different issue.

If you are in a productive meeting, having minutes is priceless. And the task should be given to a junior associate, regardless of gender.
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@cybrown: It really depends on your organization, but sometimes the meeting organizer is happy to have notes because they were too busy actually running the meeting to take notes.

@eighth_note: As a woman not in an administrative position, I would say that to play into that stereotype by "ducking" it all together is just as a bad.

theninthcloud

My old boss used to hold a meeting for our department every Thursday that would drain the life force of any soul in proximity. At the beginning of each meeting he would hand out a chart of our monthly progress. One coworker began making illustrations out of the shape of the graph and this soon caught on. Sometimes it was a ship on the ocean, sometimes a majestic mountain range. Within a few weeks we really had to start getting creative to one-up each other. That's when the dragons and crab people started showing up. After each meeting we would dash out of the room to compare graphs. We even considered allowing poor performance for a better canvas.

jwest21

If you are at a meeting that is has no relevance to you then you might not know exactly what is going on, e.g. back-stories, difficulties that was not bought up at the meeting, etc... In this case, taking notes then forwarding it to your boss could make you sound quite silly.

Kent84

For what it's worth ... I own a small six-person company. We don't have many meetings, and most of them involve copious amounts of whiteboard space and dry erase markers, so they are self-documenting. There are some experienced people who I want to be actively contributing with ideas and input. I don't expect everyone to have input due to their lack of experience ... so what would impress me is if those people were writing down things that they need to learn more about before the next time this topic comes up so I can have an intelligent conversation with them about the given topic matter at some point.

taborro

Has anyone tried asking about skipping a meeting they know job involvement? I have and it has saved from not taking notes, as well working on something more relative to what I am paid to do.

mguerena

Standard meeting rules of engagement dictate:

1. Meeting should always have a length; not to be exceeded. If you need more time, schedule another meeting.

2. Meeting should always have an agenda - not to be strayed from too far. If new topics come up, schedule a new meeting.

3. Meeting should always have a designated MODERATOR; a person who keeps the meeting on track, on topic, and on schedule, and makes sure that everyone who wants to talk, gets a chance to talk.

4. Meeting should always have a designated note-taker, who is responsible for distributing notes to all invitees (whether they attended or not) afterwards.

If you don't run your meetings like this, you're a punter.

jafac

@theninthcloud: Care to cite where I said duck it all together? There is quite a difference between not volunteering to act as an admin and being requested by the meeting facilitator to take and distribute minutes.

FYI, I'm also a woman in non-admin position, and you certainly will not find me voluntarily taking minutes. It has been my experience that people,especially women, who volunteer for admin duties get stuck with those duties. Quite frankly I didn't get my degrees to peform admin duties. And further unless you are presenting to a group, teaching, or have your own admin whoever called the meeting should be responsible for the meeting minutes.

eighth_note

Hey all,

Thanks so much for all the great insight into the world of meetings, both positive and negative. When I wrote this post I really was thinking about it in a sense of personal improvement, which some of you spoke into.

It's my thought that meeting notes, while sometimes boring and ridiculous, are a good personal record system. Personally I use a Moleskine which goes everywhere with me; of course, I often transcribe and email/archive my notes online.

It was great to hear everyone's feedback on the topic and I look forward to more comments on the subject. We hope you'll all drop into The Corporate Hack again soon!

Thanks again,

Jon @ The Corporate Hack (mail: jon at thecorporatehack.com)

jon-thecorporatehack

I absolutely agree that it's vital to take good notes in any meeting. The real problem for me (and I suspect for many others) is organizing those notes for easy reference later on. That's why I use a tablet PC to take notes whenever possible. Even if I don't bother with text recognition, I can tag my notes with keywords for easy review later. Plus, I'm one step closer to a paperless office!
Marc Perton

marc