26. Who should the meeting minutes be written for at the end of a meeting?
Translated from the French original.
Photo by Alex Green from Pexels
A few weeks ago, I went for lunch with a friend and one of his colleagues. To allow ourselves to be completely present, we settled quietly into an office after buying a sandwich in the street.
It served us well, as it let us live an experience of “full presence” during which each of us could take the time to unfold his ideas.
We used that meeting to talk about my obsession: meetings…
Who doesn’t have stories to tell about meetings?
At one point in the conversation, meeting minutes came up.
My two companions turned towards each other.
I stepped back.
“Me? The minutes let me inform those who were absent, so they know what happened and above all what they have to do. I go from meeting to meeting and I don’t have time to go and see people…”
“Me? Quite the opposite. The minutes are there to confirm to those present what was decided and what must be delivered. If people need to be briefed to take action, it is up to the participants to do it, especially when it concerns their own team members…”
For the absent or for the present.
That is the question ?
At the end of the exchange, I suggested we evaluate it.
What a joy to hear something along the lines of:
“What a fine experience, to have discovered our very different points of view on a key subject of our professional daily life.”
I left them, delighted to have sparked that exchange and to have heard their positions on meeting minutes.
So? Your meeting minutes? Who do you write them for?
For the absent or for the present?
A piece of the answer in the book “La réunionite, ça suffit”, available for pre-order here
Ecole Internationale de Réuniologie
#reuniologie #meeting #louisvareille #ecoleinternationaledereuniologie #reunionite #reuniologue #reunion
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