In any organization and particularly B2B business, the relevance of taking meeting notes cannot be undermined.  

While some favor taking meeting notes, others believe meeting notes are nothing but a waste of time. Meeting notes are important points from the meeting that are a reminder of the actions or decisions from the meeting.

So, where does all this negative information circulate in the corporate world about meeting notes?

And is there a way that we can clear the air and ensure that corporate leaders understand the true value of meeting notes to grow further in their respective industries? 

Let’s try to find out answers to these questions in this write-up by addressing some of the common myths about meeting notes. 

What are meeting notes, and why are they important?

Meeting notes are simply notes of the events or communication that transpired through a meeting. They are quick ideas, goals, data, deadlines, or any information not covered in a meeting. Meetings include the following information-

• List of participants in the meeting
• Absentee list
• Start time of the meeting
• Adjourn time of the meeting
• Key topics of the meeting
• Actions done during the meeting
• Decisions taken during the meeting

It is different from minutes in that meeting minutes are more legally required. Meeting notes, however, are for business purposes.

Meeting notes are important as they

• help with recall
• ensure future meetings are more meaningful
• create a better organization
• make it professionally right

Common myths about meeting notes that keep you from growing  

Myth No. 1 Meeting notes are taken to retain 

Meeting notes are taken to keep some ideas and aspects in mind. However, this should not be the goal of note-making. These meeting notes can prove to be decisive. This can be helpful in the long run. when it comes to referring to a piece of information in the near future. This is not the sole intention of meeting notes, however. Meeting notes help with knowledge retention, that is known. But keeping this as the only intention is wrong. Meeting notes are present to help us recreate the meeting events and think in a better manner. How ingenious is that? This can be helpful in the long run.

Myth No. 2 Organization of our meeting notes is done by us based on our prior knowledge 

It is known that traditional note-taking systems are very hierarchical. You can organize meeting notes with pre-determined categories, tags, or folders. You can create connections to existing ideas and concepts before you take any notes. You can draw parallels to previous, events and tasks.

However, if you create more tasks the process gets clumsier. It would help if you need to organize it well on time or the point of meeting notes becomes irrelevant. This makes meeting notes redundant.

Myth No. 3 Note-taking activity in the meeting is a passive and static process of capturing ideas 

Another myth about note-making is that traditional note-taking practices focus on capturing ideas. The meeting notes process also lets you think that every note is perfect once you’ve written everything about a topic. Meeting note-taking is not just passively noting down everything you’ve heard. It is more than that. You need to know the details and be aware of the ideas instead of just mechanically taking notes down. You also need to list items in the right manner. Note making is a dynamic activity that changes based on the type of meeting, persons involved, or even tool or format used to take the notes.

Myth No. 4 Meeting notes do not improve our thinking 

Meeting notes do not improve our thinking is another big myth. Meeting notes need to improve our understanding of the events. You get better clarity about what happened in the meeting. This encourages better decisions, improves the effectiveness of meetings, and more. Meeting notes are meant to improve how we think post meetings. You get a better idea of the big picture and create a line that helps future meetings. This myth proves wrong in that.

Myth No. 5 Meeting notes are unnecessary 

This is the biggest myth of all. Some people assume that meeting notes are not important or necessary. Meeting notes can help you understand what transpired in the meeting. You can find out which points in a meeting can be helpful for any further activity. Meeting notes are extremely necessary for not letting go of necessary information and trends. For example- a small point about a social media campaign can prove to be big in the long run.

Myth No. 6 People are too busy to prepare meeting notes 

Another myth is people are too busy to prepare meeting notes. If any new business detail is discussed, you need to take notes of that. There is no businessperson too busy to know if there’s something new. Preparing notes is important to know what plans need to incorporate. In case you have made a rough template in one of your meetings. You can create a final template from that post your meeting with the ideas noted in meeting notes.

Final Words 

The objective of this write-up was to bust some of the myths about meeting notes that keep you from growing. In case you want to take some meeting notes, you can use a great meeting notes template. These meeting notes templates will help record all events that transpired between all the stakeholders in a meeting.

Always keep in mind that meeting notes are not taken to help us remember better. Rather, they help us think in a better way.  

As a result of thinking better, we remember so much more. That is the ultimate objective of taking down meeting notes.  

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