Meetings

[Fred Claus]

For those of you who do MSP work, let's talk about your initial meeting with a client. back in the 90's, you go into a meeting and you have a notepad to take notes on. You hand write things, sometimes even give the person you are meeting with a list of "Next Actions" before the meeting is over.

Fast forward 30 years, do you still operate that way?

As a techie person I like my tablet. I go into a meeting with my Android tablet and I have a "Meeting" note open on my Evernote and take notes that way. One day I was in a meeting with one of my current clients and he made the comment that it didn't look like I was paying attention because I was typing away on my tablet. He said "If you want to be in business you should take notes on paper and scan them into the computer".

Now I wonder what's the difference between typing away on my tablet taking notes, or writing on a piece of paper, taking notes? It still looks like I'm not paying attention right? What are your thoughts on the whole pad of paper vs digital note taking in meetings debate?

 

[Diggs]

Actually, the scanning of hand-written notes is a bit old-school and requires an extra step or two. I haven't seen that in years. The other thing going for a tablet is you have Internet resources at your finger tips for when questions come up.

 

[Markverhyden]

Now I wonder what's the difference between typing away on my tablet taking notes, or writing on a piece of paper, taking notes? It still looks like I'm not paying attention right? What are your thoughts on the whole pad of paper vs digital note taking in meetings debate?

That's not the issue. It's the perception that you might be acting like his/her's kids, etc who studiously ignore them while playing with their smart devices.

Personally I still prefer paper and pen. But I also try to get a finger on their technology pulse. If their gadgeteers I'll use a laptop or iPad.

 

[Fred Claus]

That's not the issue. It's the perception that you might be acting like his/her's kids, etc who studiously ignore them while playing with their smart devices.

Personally I still prefer paper and pen. But I also try to get a finger on their technology pulse. If their gadgeteers I'll use a laptop or iPad.

Now that's a great point. I never thought of it that way.

 

[glennd]

It's the perception that you might be acting like his/her's kids, etc who studiously ignore them while playing with their smart devices.

My thoughts precisely.

 

[NJW]

+1 for paper and pen, from me, for all the reasons already put forward.

From a practical point of view, I defy anyone to type, using an on-screen keyboard, as fast as they can write by hand. You're always going to have to transcribe meeting notes into some other form – report, quote, invoice, whatever – so it doesn't matter how they're originated. You certainly won't be cutting and pasting from those tablet notes, with their typos, predictively 'corrected' words, etc.

The other thing going for a tablet is you have Internet resources at your finger tips for when questions come up.

That's always a 'let me find out and let you know later today' moment for me. On-the-spot Googling in front of a client is never efficient (for me, anyway).

 

[SAFCasper]

Combination of pen, paper and taking photo's of equipment on my phone.

First "meeting" usually involves walking around taking notes of what equipment they have, network points, AP locations, what each computer does etc. It's a lot of moving around and I find a laptop is too clunky having to find a flat surface every time I need to type.

For a sit down meeting where I know I'm going to be in a boardroom the entire time then sure, I'll use a laptop. I can type faster than I can write and almost touch type without breaking eye contact. I have a small 12.5" laptop so it's not like I'm hiding behind a big screen. And when I'm not typing I half-close the lid.

 

[HCHTech]

I take pics of the various setups, then type on a laptop during meetings. I have an XPS13 as my field laptop, and that is unobtrusive with a long battery life, so it's easy to pop it open and type, then half-close the lid. It's also quiet to type on. No one has ever asked or commented on that style, but if they did I would show them my handwriting to prove that even I can't read it, and they would witness that I can type almost as fast as I can talk, so it's just the most efficient method. On the back end, I can copy/paste notes & pics into my CRM, so win/win. I think you just got yourself an "edge-case" client, there. I wouldn't change your method for one complainer.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

For me..depends on the meeting.
If it's an outdoor project....such as, wireless at a marina or campground...or...in 2 days I have to go survey a large church with several buildings on the property, I'll be taking my old fashioned notebook with me (got some from Datto, N-Able, etc). I do this because...I'm outdoors, walking around.

For other meetings, such as for taking over the computers, etc....we'll be sitting down at a table usually, and that's where I'll have my laptop available. I'm often showing people how Teams work, file libraries, bitlocker with pre-boot PIN on my laptop, etc. So...I'll be taking notes on my laptop...I'll usually make a Channel under our Tech "Team" in Teams. So I'll plop documents there, possibly add pictures from my cell phone camera.

I've never had anyone hint that I'm not paying attention. I'm in an active dialog with them.....asking them questions, asking for information, asking details. They can clearly see/tell that I'm gathering intel.

 

[Markverhyden]

That's always a 'let me find out and let you know later today' moment for me. On-the-spot Googling in front of a client is never efficient (for me, anyway).

Google is Google which is on the Internet, an advertisement, as well as popularity, driven system. My search results are very rarely completed in minutes.

 

[NJW]

I never ask permission [to record] at a meeting unless its a CI. A lot can be "forgotten" in 18.5 minutes.

Even more can be missed when you're found out and never invited back.