Comments on: Taking minutes of a meeting on a laptop computer http://masterofmeetings.com/index2/taking-minutes-of-a-meeting-on-a-laptop-computer A blog about everything to do with meetings, minutes, and governance Sat, 21 Aug 2010 10:12:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Harry Waisbren http://masterofmeetings.com/index2/taking-minutes-of-a-meeting-on-a-laptop-computer/comment-page-1#comment-171 Harry Waisbren Sat, 24 Apr 2010 05:34:50 +0000 http://masterofmeetings.com/index2/?p=383#comment-171 I can very easily imagine that, in this day and age, 70% of minute takers do take their minutes directly onto a laptop, "and would never go back to handwriting." A meeting's historical record can be so important, and a laptop helps in so many different ways, that purism just can not suffice as a rationale. However, I find it particularly telling that the trick to taking minutes is "to prepare in advance." This manifests itself in so many different ways, yet larger than examples like using the agenda to set up your format (much less bringing a laptop in the first place), the key I see is to take the craft of minute-taking seriously enough to achieve the full extent of its value. Check out my review of the book "Taking Minutes of Meetings" for a discussion of why, and how, this craft can be so valuable: http://www.qworky.com/blog/2010/04/qworky-review-taking-minutes-of-meetings/ I can very easily imagine that, in this day and age, 70% of minute takers do take their minutes directly onto a laptop, “and would never go back to handwriting.” A meeting’s historical record can be so important, and a laptop helps in so many different ways, that purism just can not suffice as a rationale.

However, I find it particularly telling that the trick to taking minutes is “to prepare in advance.” This manifests itself in so many different ways, yet larger than examples like using the agenda to set up your format (much less bringing a laptop in the first place), the key I see is to take the craft of minute-taking seriously enough to achieve the full extent of its value.

Check out my review of the book “Taking Minutes of Meetings” for a discussion of why, and how, this craft can be so valuable:
http://www.qworky.com/blog/2010/04/qworky-review-taking-minutes-of-meetings/

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