by Tree Bressen
The essentials of notetaking are:
- date of the meeting (including the year)
- who was present
- title of each item clearly labeled
(skip a line between items) - agreements and decisions (put a star next to decisions)
- next steps
On decisions, it’s also helpful to include:
- reasons and intentions for a decision
- name and reason of anyone standing aside
If it’s a major item, then it’s also good to include:
- main points of discussion
- questions answered
- range of opinion
- concerns raised
- whether each concern was resolved or not
- “sense of the meeting”
- new ideas