5.5.8.1 Get the complete picture
In addition to learning how to listen effectively during a meeting, it will be important for you to develop the ways in which you record your information. Many ineffectively organised notes resemble a simple "shopping list" of points with no apparent relationships between the ideas noted and this usually reflects a note-taker's lack of understanding of these relationships. The effective listening skills outlined above will assist you in comprehending the discussions.
First Step – PREPARATION
Use a laptop/computer rather than paper and prepare a template. If you don’t have access to a computer/laptop, use a large, loose-leaf notebook. Use only one side of the paper (you then can lay your notes out to see the direction of a discussion). Draw a vertical line 60 mm from the left side of your paper. This is the recall column. Notes will be taken to the right of this margin. Later key words or phrases can be written in the recall column.
Don’t record notes in paragraph form. Use a new line for every thought and use a “-“ to indicate a new thought. Capture general ideas, not illustrative ideas. Skip lines to show end of ideas or thoughts. Using abbreviations will save time. Write legibly.
Third Step - AFTER THE MEETING
Read through your notes and make it more legible if necessary. Now use the column. Jot down ideas or key words which give you the idea of the discussions. (REDUCE) You may have to reread the discussions and translate them in your own words.
Suggestions
Think over the following suggestions and improve your note-taking system where needed.
-
Listen actively - if possible think before you write - but don't get behind
-
Raise questions if appropriate
-
Develop and use a standard method of note-taking including punctuation, abbreviations, margins, etc
-
Use a laptop/computer rather than paper
-
If using a computer is out of the question, take and keep notes in a large notebook. The only merit to a small notebook is ease of carrying and that is not your main objective. A large notebook allows you to adequately indent and use an outline form
-
Leave a few spaces blank as you move from one point to the next so that you can fill in additional points later if necessary. Your objective is to take helpful notes, not to save paper
-
Do not try to take down everything that the speakers say. It is impossible in the first place and unnecessary in the second place because not everything is of equal importance. Spend more time listening and attempt to take down the main points. If you are writing as fast as you can, you cannot be as discriminating a listener. There may be some times, however, when it is more important to write than to think
-
Listen for cues as to important points, transition from one point to the next, repetition of points for emphasis, changes in voice inflections, enumeration of a series of points, etc
-
Many speakers attempt to present a few major points and several minor points in a discussion. The rest is explanatory material and examples. Try to see the main points and do not get lost in a barrage of minor points which do not seem related to each other. The relationship is there if you will listen for it. Be alert to cues about what the speaker thinks is important
-
Make your original notes legible enough for your own reading, but use abbreviations of your own invention when possible. The effort required to recopy notes can be better spent in rereading them and thinking about them. Although neatness is a virtue in some respect, it does not necessarily increase your learning.
-
If a motion to be proposed at the meeting is complex it should be reduced to writing. It must then be included in the notice and agenda. It must be clearly expressed.
-
Be prepared with a book (not pieces of paper – they get lost) to write in. Have two pens, the minutes of the previous meeting for amending/signing etc. If you are tape recording, set it up well before the meeting and test your system. Have more tapes than you think you will need. If you take minutes in a meeting on a laptop, save to the hard drive and to a removable disk as you go along.
-
Sit in the correct chair – the secretary in a meeting should sit at the right hand side of the chairperson. REFUSE to sit in a corner (Photocopy this instruction and give it to your chairperson!).
-
Concentrate on the discussion: ask yourself: what is the main point that Person X is making? What is the core issue in Person Y’s objection to this idea? You need only make a note of these main ideas.
-
Take GOOD, full notes of things which people agree to do – try to write down exactly what they must do, by when, whom they must give it to etc. Make careful notes of any dates, times or amounts agreed in the meeting. Your minutes are a reminder service to the participants. Make sure that they are accurate.
-
Take all motions and resolutions down verbatim, and record who proposed and seconded, and how the vote was taken. If someone disagrees strongly with a decision, record this.
-
Assertiveness is a key skill when taking minutes. Interrupt the meeting calmly, clearly, in adult-business-professional style if you do not have any information which you need. If you are not sure of something, simply say ”I have minuted ____________ “(read out your note). Is this correct?”
-
Type up minutes as soon as possible after a meeting. NEVER put them away for another day – you will forget what your notes meant, and then you become anxious and put them off even longer. Eventually you will hate doing minutes.
-
Get help wherever possible – tape record very formal/serious meetings if you feel you need to – but still take notes. If someone presents a report, ask for a copy of his/her notes.
-
Don’t fuss over minutes. You are not writing a nation’s constitution – just a record of a meeting with a focus on what people need to do as a result of the decisions taken at the meetings. Get them done and get them distributed quickly.
-
People like short, clear minutes which are easy to read and easy to work from.
-
Full but short sentences are best, and clear layout will make your minutes “user friendly.”
-
Like any business writing, minutes can only be judged against their objective. Ask yourself what job your minutes are supposed to do. Then assess whether they do this job effectively. If they do, they are good minutes.
Dostları ilə paylaş: |
