Top Management Story

Writen by Bette Daoust, Ph.D.

How should you keep track of meetings?

Have you ever wanted to run away from a meeting? I worked for one of the top five companies in the US and they seemed to hold meetings to plan meetings. It absolutely drove me around the bend! I would try and multi-task like all the other participants and secretly hoped they would not call on me for any information. In the long run, I did not get any value out of these meetings and my work was being ignored. I had to keep track of the meetings and place action items in my calendar so I would remember what the heck it was they wanted. In simple terms, my attitude absolutely stunk!

When it was my turn to run the meeting, I decided to make changes. I planned what we should discuss and not just get updates from everyone. The meeting changed from keeping us up-to-date to one with meaning and relevant issues. Once this happened, there was more of a necessity to record the minutes and track the meeting progress. Meetings are a crucial part of running a company and winning clients. Client meetings should run smoothly and not be time wasters. You need to get to the point and move on.

Keeping track of meetings and agendas only required the use of tables in a word processing program, or the use of an excel spreadsheet. This allowed the use of check marks to identify those action items that were completed. A list of outstanding issues yet to be resolved was easy to spot and did not require retyping everything. Tracking action items for customers should be done in the same simple manner. Customers expect to have their items taken care of ASAP. If you do not take the time to record the information, it is not likely you will remember what it is they wanted.

The aim of this process is to service the customer and to keep you on track. Milestones, action items, and other events will likely keep you busy. Do not fall down on the job and forget what it is you were supposed to do.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people's attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the "Networking Queen". Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com