Project Managers around the world live and die by their notes. To do lists, logs and journals all serve the purpose of recording the most important parts of our project – in turn, PMs are constantly scribbling down notes, information and reminders throughout the day. Project Managers strategize, make decisions and take actions based on the information they have. It comes as no surprise that having sound note-taking skills can greatly boost a PM’s performance. When it comes to taking notes, there are some crucial methods to follow for best results. When notes are recorded in a certain fashion, they’ll pay you back in dividends over the course of a project. In this article, we’ll explore some project management note taking tips you can start using right now!
Project Management Note Taking Tips To Double Their Effectiveness!
Writing notes is a relatively personal endeavor, in that everyone comes up with their own way to take them. Because of this, we will discuss the types of things that should be included in the notes and provide some examples, but not specifically how to take them – we all have our own way!
Without further ado, here’s our list of project management note taking tips!
- Keep All Of Your Notes In One Place
- Make Note Of The Date, Time & Location
- Record Who Was Present For The Meeting, Conversation, Etc.
- Less Is More – Treat Notes Like Tweets & Bullet Lists
- Denote Which Items Are High Priority
- A Picture’s Worth 1,000 Words – Use Sketches/Diagrams
- Keep The Next Step In Mind – Note The Actions Required
- Record The Person(s) Responsible For Taking Each Step
- Make Note Of Deadlines & Timeframes
- Draw Horizontal Lines To Separate Conversations, Meetings, Etc.
- Cross Out Items As They’re Completed
- Take A Picture Of Your Notes (Optional)
Below are some examples of each of these tips in action!
Watch On Video Version On YouTube!
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1. Keep All Of Your Notes In One Place
This one’s the easiest note taking tip, but probably the most important. Keeping all of your notes in one place is essential! This makes it so much easier to keep track of everything and look back at it later, especially over the course of a loner project.
Let’s contrast this – how organized do you feel when there’s multiple notebooks, scrap papers, notes in the computer or phone and post-its everywhere? I’ve been there many times – these times are always when I’m scrambling, running around and ‘reacting’.
Any notebook you’re comfortable works – I personally like using these hardcover notebooks, which last about a year. They’re small enough to carry everywhere and the hardcover helps keep them in better condition:
No products found.
2. Make Note Of The Date, Time & Location
Notes are important to have for accomplishing work in the short-term, but they’re just as important when you need to look back at them in the future.
Projects move fast, with meetings and conversations taking place all the time. Every time I make notes, I try to be in the habit of noting the date, time and location of where I made the notes.
Our brains remember things based on sight (via Brain Connection). When we note the date, time and location, it’ll help us recall more later than if it were just scribbled notes on a page.
3. Record Who Was Present For The Meeting, Conversation, Etc.
Just like the date, time and location, it’s vital to record who was present during any conversation or meeting taking place. This is helpful for several reasons.
We know who else was there – we know who we can go to if we have questions or need more information later. We also know who we should provide meeting minutes to or follow up with later on.
Depending on the circumstances, it’s worth making note of email addresses or phone numbers too.
4. Less Is More – Treat Notes Like Tweets & Bullet Lists
Short is sweet, especially when it comes to project management note taking.
Recording too much information is bad for a few reasons. First, it surrounds the important information with too much clutter. It also takes a lot more time – time that could be spent focused elsewhere.
It’s like reading a quick bullet list vs. reading a wall of text. How useful is that 500 word block of sentences, when the same points can be outlined in a brief bullet list?
In the examples below, we’ll utilize bullet lists.
5. Denote Which Items Are High Priority
When we record information in notes, it means we want to remember it later on. This is the best part of taking notes in the first place. The trouble arises when we record a giant list of things to do without any form of priority. In the same conversation, we could make notes related to writing a $1M contract as well as grabbing an extra box of pens when we’re at the office.
To structure our notes a little further, there are a few ways to prioritize them.
For one, we can order each item by number ie. 1,2,3,4,5 so we know what to do first, second, etc. This works well sometimes, but trying too hard to do this can get cumbersome, confusing and time-consuming.
Below is an example of a simpler way to note priority – noting items as urgent (“U”) and important (“I”).
6. A Picture’s Worth 1,000 Words – Use Sketches/Diagrams
As the old saying goes, a picture’s worth 1,000 words. Just as the location, date and attendee names help us remember details, we remember a whole lot more when we see a picture.
In the notes below, I’ve included a sketch as an example. This sketch shows plywood (say, in a temporary roof) and some kind of waterproof tape that the engineer requires. When we see the sketch, we remember the intent behind it, what the sketch is conveying and other specific circumstances that surround it.
7. Keep The Next Step In Mind – Note The Actions Required
The intent behind project management note taking is to create written records, of course, but also to give ourselves instructions. This is why it’s important to make note of the next step required for each item we write down.
In our example notes, I’ve added a ‘next step’ to each item. See below for more information:
8. Record The Person(s) Responsible For Taking Each Step
In our example, every ‘next step’ noted is for the Project Manager recording the notes. However, we can extrapolate the next steps for each of these items.
One of the most important project management note taking tips is noting the person responsible for each action. Here are a few tips that could follow each of these:
- Mobilizing – The Shop Is Responsible For Confirming All Tools & Supplies Are Ready To Go Before Monday.
- Drawings – Gerard Must Review Them, Make Comments & Return Them
- Permits – Once They’re Printed, Someone Must Hang Them
- Dry Erase Boards – Who Needs To Buy Them? How Will They Get To The Site?
- Tape – Once Approved, Which Vendor Will It Be Bought From? Logistics?
This turns a list of miscellaneous notes into an actionable list.
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9. Make Note Of Deadlines & Timeframes
As you can see in our example notes, there are a few deadlines noted. The crew must mobilize on Monday 11/4; the drawings must be emailed to Gerard today.
The same should be done when someone else needs to take an action. When will Gerard return those drawings? How soon can the permits be printed and hung up? What’s the lead time on getting tape like that?
These are over-simplified examples, but when we note deadlines and timeframes, we can easily reference our notes to figure out the date certain things will be done, whether or not something is behind schedule, etc.
10. Draw Horizontal Lines To Separate Conversations, Meetings, Etc.
Project managers have many meetings and conversations throughout the day. The topics discussed can range wildly, as can the people who we’re meeting with, where the conversation takes place and the importance of each.
It’s helpful to draw a clear divider line in our notes to separate them as much as possible. It’s just an easy, visual way to keep notes more organized.
11. Cross Out Items As They’re Completed
We often look over our notes to figure out what’s still not done. The best way to do this is also the most fun of all the project management note taking tips – crossing off items as they’re done! Doesn’t that feel good?
It’s best to cross out an item in such a way that it’s clearly done, but can still be read later.
12. Take A Picture Of Your Notes (Optional)
Last but not least, some breaking news. Sometimes notes are taken on paper – this paper can get wet, ripped, blown away, lost, etc. Then…they’re gone!
In all seriousness, it can be beneficial to take a picture of your notes, especially if it’s a long list with lots of important information. It’s a form of insurance policy mixed with a more flexible way to have access to your notes. Win-win!
Project Management Note Taking Tips In Summary
Notes are interesting – we’re always told to take ‘good notes’, to write important things down and to keep our to-do list up to date. But how exactly should we do that? In my experience, it’s never a topic that’s formally taught, but more picked up over time. While we all must figure out what works best for us, it helps to have a list of tips to follow – I truly hope we’ve delivered this information in a helpful and useful manner! Thanks for reading.
