How to write good notes
- While taking notes, use the structure of the agenda as reference for structure of the notes. Unrelated discussion can be moved to the “Open discussions” section.
- Keep the notes as objective as possible.
- Refer to the linked voice text channels, and add links and other resources being posted there.
- It is less important to write down the discussions word for word. It is much more important to capture the main ideas in a summarized and simple manner. For that I would suggest to write your notes during the meeting, and then re-work, simplify and clarify them after, at your own pace.
- It is very important to provide context! More often than not, an answer to a question will change with time, even when the question stays the same.
It’s really important to note the questions that get asked:
- It allows non-participants to gain the full context, without a need to ask for follow-ups. It increases communication efficiency, and leads to less confusion.
- It allows for the data to keep on living. In the future we will not only what happened but also the reasoning for why it happened.
- It’s important to make sure that the actions items are clear. If not, you can always ask the relevant person. After you have them, add them to the table, and add the steps that must be preformed.
- Verify that the host is uploading the recording.
How to help the team
- Assign yourself to meeting enough time in advance.
- Have a backup scribe for meetings in case the primary scribe is unable to deliver.
- Iterate on Notion templates to improve guild information architecture.