On taking notes

I've found myself to be a compulsive note taker.  Every meeting I'm I. I'm constantly writing down the topics, what was said and follow ups.  If I'm being honest this started when I almost fell asleep in a VERY exciting meeting about the chart of accounts... Regardless of how it started though, it's been a very handy compulsion.

It keeps me engaged

This compulsion started as a way to keep me engaged in the discussion.  In order to write down what was going on I had to pay attention.  Paying attention meant I had opportunities to be involved in the discussion.

Over time this engagement helped me pick up a lot of new ideas and skills.  Simply by being involved in the meetings I learned more about the topics being discussed.  Over time, this has helped me understand complex deployments, foreign concepts and new areas of the business.  At the very least it demonstrated to my team that I was present and involved.

It provides instant value

Recording notes is an incredibly easy way to show you're creating value.  Suddenly you go from being just another person in the meeting, to the person in the meeting who actually knows what happened.  After joining a new team I constantly hear I'm providing value quickly.... Just by taking notes.  Honestly I find this a bit funny since all I'm doing is writing things down, but it's a real easy win.

It covers your (you get the idea)

Having a stockpile of notes is a great way to cover yourself if you need to.  Being able to go back and determine when a decision was made, or when a topic first came up is very powerful.  Personally I've used this many many times to remind folks of what we had discussed... And in a few places averted major escalations by proving a point.

Sometimes it's not a stakeholder I need cover from... by myself.  Sometimes (ok, many times) my memory feels like swiss cheese... I'm constantly going back to review what we went over, if only to ensure I make the best decision.  Having my stockpile of notes gives me an incredible resource to rely on to help me make better decisions.