Effective Strategies for Reviewing and Utilizing Meeting Notes
Once the meeting is over, the real challenge begins: reviewing and using those notes effectively. Setting aside time soon after the meeting to review notes while the information is still fresh is always a good idea.
But many of us work in a day filled with back-to-back meetings.
Highlighting key points, action items, and deadlines can make it easier to prioritize tasks and follow up accordingly. Clearly, commonly agreed action points will be the same, however, many other sections fo our notes can differ from participant to participant.
However, our note taking is naturally biased. I will take notes on what I consider to be important, or significant. You will do the same. Your notes, however, could be quite different from mine. We're both right. Each of our notes are incomplete. Sensibly, we might choose to share them...
Sharing the notes with team members is another crucial step. Collaborative tools like shared documents or project management software can facilitate this process. By doing so, everyone stays on the same - common - page.
It also allows for collective input and clarification. Regularly revisiting and updating the notes ensures that they remain relevant and actionable, thereby enhancing project outcomes and knowledge retention. All of this takes time, and discipline, however.
As already mentioned above, shared notes are still a page built from several incomplete notes.