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.
First, taking meeting minutes is a task unto itself, and interferes with
my ability to participate in discussions and to process information
that's being shared. I wear a multitude of hats in my job and I have to
be able to assess impacts on my areas of responsibility without worrying
about everyone else's stuff.
Second, my area of expertise is writing and communication. My competence
is demonstrated in how I do those jobs, and in how I carry out all of
the other related responsibilities. It has nothing to do with taking
notes for general consumption during meetings.
Producing minutes is time-consuming. Companies have to understand that
if they assign someone that responsibility then it takes away from the
employee's ability to do their jobs, which in our case is to write. Not
to record. To write.
That said, it *is* critical for decisions to be recorded. At my small
company, we tend to use a flip chart and the person leading the meeting
makes note of what's important. If I step back and analyze how we do
things, we seem to focus on the deliverable outcome of the meeting. If
it's a requirements gathering meeting, then I have to produce a
requirements document. If it's a planning meeting for a project
engagement, then whoever is responsible for the engagement is generally
the one who produces the resulting document. We also send out e-mails
summarizing decisions, next steps, etc. Perhaps this is the luxury of
having a small work group.
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.
