If you’re on a one-on-1 phone call with a customer or in a conference that includes several people, taking notes is essential to keep the record of what was discussed. If you’re struggling with taking notes that are effective, it could be difficult to keep up with the entire discussion or remember important information when you’re back at your desk. This article will help you improve your note-taking abilities, so you can take more organized and efficient meetings in the future.
Select a method of note-taking that you find most effective. There are a variety of methods to consider, such as the Cornell method, which consists of breaking your notes into a small column on the left and a larger one on the right. The idea is that the smaller column highlights the most important ideas of the meeting, while the larger column will go into the more specific details of each. You can then create a summary at bottom of the page to tie everything together.
Keep your notes simple. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the minutiae of taking notes, but you must to focus on what’s important for your notes to be useful to those who take them to review later. Try not to copy verbatim; instead, use shorthand or symbols that will be easily identifiable when you review your notes later on.
Idealy, your team should be able to communicate the agenda for the meeting prior to the date so that you can make an outline prior to the meeting. This will prevent you from having to record important points during the meeting itself and will keep you on track throughout the entire discussion.