Meeting Minutes

A response to the Misunderstood Activity
created by Valerie McQueen (@Vmcqueen)

Number of views: 198

A topic I struggle to have students understand is the value and importance of meeting minutes.

Students will meet with each other, or their project sponsor and either record the meeting or take a transcript.  This leaves them with so much information, they can’t pull out the relevant points.  Rather than this I would like to see them take minutes, and send them to all participants within 24hrs, including information discussed (summary), decisions made, and any actions (including who will do what by when).

There are 2 metaphors for this that come to mind.  The first is a needle in a haystack.  I need to break down for students, how they would go about looking for the required information. How do they know what they need to do? Hunting through transcripts of meetings to find the relevant information is a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The Cornell notes activity is another good example.  Just like taking notes in class, it’s very important to take notes in meetings in order to highlight the important things.

Minutes are also a way of making sure everyone has a common understanding, and by circulating them, you give the participants a chance to speak up and say that they understood something different.  I can break this down and go through how this can be a form of active listening.

Overall, I need to make sure I take the time to break down the concept into smaller pieces, each with the value they bring and ensure I relate it to something they understand and see value in.

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