TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Taking Minutes at Meetings From:"Simone Bartsion" <scuba -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 10 Mar 2001 23:05:13 +0200
Hi,
Before recently changing companies, I spent the best part of my working life
as a technical writer accompanying project teams to client sites around the
world for the sole purpose of capturing the minutes of meetings, which
included recording Action Items, Customization Items and Open Issues.
These meetings generally took the form of presentations interspersed with
discussions.
Firstly, I would like to confirm that because of the nature and size of the
company I worked for, I hardly felt empowered by being responsible for
recording the minutes. It was interesting knowing first-hand how the project
was faring, but as the developers wrote the specs (which we tech writers
edited), and there was a separate group of tech writers responsible for the
user guides and another for training, I never really felt "involved" or
recognized for my efforts.
But, the point that I would like to make is that I quickly realised in order
to be sure I captured the relevant points being discussed, it was important
to have copy of the Agenda, a copy of all the presentations (if possible)
and to be sure that I sat next to a SME (Subject Matter Expert) from my
company. This way I could quickly confirm important points made during the
presentation and review the minutes during the breaks with the SME.
Recording the minutes of meetings requires that you be constantly alert and
paying attention, as these minutes form the backbone of the project.
Good-luck!
IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
