There was a post on social media
about how women aren’t the default
note takers
in meetings.
No, no, no.
NEVER complain about being
the meeting note taker.
It is the most powerful role
at the meeting
and, if we use that power
(as I did),
we can leverage it
into a higher paying
and a higher profile job
at that company.
What powers
do the note taker have?
We assign responsibility
for unassigned tasks
to people at that meeting.
Of course,
we’ll assign the high profile tasks
to skilled people
we like to work with
and
we’ll assign the thankless tasks
to the skilled people
we don’t like to work with.
To be cautious,
I usually put ???
after their names
in the notes.
If we like to work with certain people,
we should also assign their names
to their brilliant contributions
to the meeting.
“k suggested that…”
If we don’t like to work with them,
we could omit their names
and phrase it
like
“It was suggested that…”
We should also be the people
who sends out the meeting notes
to everyone
including the appropriate executives.
The person who sends out the notes
is often viewed
as the contact person
AND as the person in charge
of the meetings.
Savvy people know this,
which is why they will try to
take that task away
from the note taker.
My response to this
is to tell them
I’ll do it.
They’re so busy.
It is more efficient
if I do that task for them.
If they claim
they want to look it over,
catch any mistakes,
I give them
a printed copy to do that.
I take the notes.
I send the notes.
Always accept the
note taker role.
Use that power.