Meeting note basics

In this guide, we'll show you how to make sure your meetings are productive and you get the most value from them. We'll cover the basics of good meeting management and how to use Workflowy to be the most prepared person at any meeting.

Most folks generally don't enjoy meetings and would rather avoid them at all costs. That sentiment likely comes from being in a lot of meetings and coming out of them not having a great deal of clarity about what just happened. In other words, a lot of time was taken up but not a lot really got done. This guide will help combat that feeling by making sure that at least you are prepared and will get the most from that time.

Prepare an agenda ahead of time

Meetings, like most things in life, benefit greatly from a bit of planning. Once a meeting starts and people start talking, the likelihood of it going off track increases as time goes on. By coming prepared, you'll be armed with the tools to help keep the discussion focused.

What's the topic or theme?

Whenever you're acting as the facilitator of a meeting, coming prepared with an agenda is critical. People will expect you to guide the conversation from theme to theme and make sure the meeting is productive so you have to be ready. You'll want to clearly indicate what the topic or theme of the meeting will be and make sure you invite the correct people.

Who needs to attend?

To do that, consider what you'll actually be discussing during the meeting. There's no sense in inviting people who won't be able to contribute or leaving out people whose input you'll need.

Gather information

Start by filling out our bare-bones meeting template. The template has you list the main topic and then consider the main types of information you'll discuss during the meeting. Whether you're leading or just attending, this template will give you enough structure to help the meeting go well. Gathering this information might reveal that the meeting won't cover what you're interested in or that the wrong people have been invited. By filling out the template, you'll know ahead of time whether you need to adjust the meeting topic or invitee list. Let's go over the three main types of information to consider before a meeting: questions, updates, and decisions.

Questions

Questions are just that. The meeting is your opportunity to get the information you need to either clarify or understand something from the other folks present. Think about what pieces of information you'll need in the near future or are missing that might keep you from moving forward with your work. Consider who might have the answers to those questions and note their names down in the appropriate section.

Updates

Updates are anything you think needs to be communicated to other folks in order for them to be able to do their jobs or that you're expected to share. Again consider who needs to have this information and add them to the list of people that you'll invite.

Decisions

Decisions are choices you've made or resolutions you've reached that need to be shared with others to keep the process moving. Make sure to include everyone who needs to be aware of these decisions.

Once you've gone through these three types of information and have considered who needs to attend the meeting so the right people will be there to answer questions, provide updates, and be made aware of any decisions, you've got your basic meeting agenda.

Capture key information

During the actual meeting, you'll want to be sure and bring up any questions you've written down, make note of any updates that are related to your work, and capture any tasks you're responsible for.

Write down the information as soon as it's appropriate to do so. The longer you take to write it down, the more likely you are to forget it or miss another important detail as the meeting goes on. Ask clarifying questions if a task is unclear.

Turn your tasks into todos as soon as you have them written down. This lets you find them quickly later. Select multiple items and choose Todo from the context menu, or open an item's bullet menu and choose Todo. This adds a checkbox and lets you find incomplete tasks across all your meeting notes by using is:todo in the search bar.

You should also consider adding a due date if there is one. You can easily do this by adding a note to an item and then typing the due date. Workflowy will try to guess the date and display a widget with the suggestion. If the suggestion is correct, you can hit Tab on your keyboard to create a date tag. You can then easily search for date tags using natural language like 'this week' or 'this month'.

Share your notes if appropriate

Finally, if you're leading the meeting or are the person tasked with taking notes, you can create a simple meeting-notes item and share it with your team or anyone else you're collaborating with.

If you share your meeting notes using the secret-link option, the people you share with do not need a Workflowy account to view the notes. This is also a great way to introduce Workflowy to your team if you want them to try the app.

And there you have it. With a bit of prep time before your next meeting, you can ensure that the time spent will be fruitful and productive. Be sure to download our meeting template and make your next meeting a great one.