Writing a_Protocol_for_Meetings_in_Academia
| Type | Team Size | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me, Myself and I | Group Collaboration | The Academic System | Software | 1 | 2-10 | 11-30 | 30+ |
Why and When[edit]
Writing a protocol is necessary during every meeting that has aspects that need to be documented. This is true for most meetings in academia as well, yet protocols are often less established in academia compared to other domains such as business or administration work profiles. While in some cases, it is sufficient that everyone takes their own notes, we encourage a team structure. This is especially true for meetings in small groups in order to get roles and responsibilities as well as further tasks and the timeline transparent. This article is mostly applicable for meetings that take place in a scientific project, academic working group or group work of larger student groups.
The main reason for writing a protocol is to document the most important outcomes of a meeting so that the decisions are captured. This is especially important for decisions that may become relevant at a later stage of a project. Moreover, a protocol serves as a documentation for group members who could not attend due to sickness or other responsibilities.
Another reason for writing a protocol is to create accountability. In a protocol, tasks that each person should perform before the next meeting can be written down. This is not only helpful for the whole group, but also a good reminder for the people who took on a responsibility.
Goals[edit]
- Document key decisions
- Document tasks
- Create accountability
- Make meeting content available for people who could not attend the meeting
Getting Started[edit]
Basics for writing protocols[edit]
For an academic protocol, the following items are recommended: Names of participants of the meeting
- Starting time
- Ending time
- All the topics from the agenda (add link to “agenda” here)
- Most important decisions
- Why the decisions were made (in a short manner)
For you as the person writing the protocol, it is very helpful if the moderator communicates the agenda of the meeting before the meeting starts, so you can prepare the structure of the protocol in advance. This makes it easier for this person to keep track of everything that was said during the meeting.
The person writing the protocol should never be the same person as the moderator. This is because the writing hand is three times slower than the speaking mouth. Therefore, you have very little time to speak, as you are too busy taking notes and should only focus on this task to be able to catch all the information (Vasallo 2001).
In meetings on scientific projects, most of the time, it is not necessary to take notes of everything that was said, as such verbatim protocols are often hard to search for valuable information, and do not empower others to read them. Writing down the most important things that were discussed and the outcomes of a discussion is sufficient. This makes identifying the most important information easier for people who did not attend the meeting. Otherwise, the important parts might get overlooked among all the detailed descriptions.
In case you did not understand everything, e.g., names or dates, please ask the person who mentioned this to clarify, so that you can get it correctly. If this crucial information is not given correctly, this can lead to confusion and unpleasant situations in the future (Vasallo 2001).
In the end, you should repeat who is responsible for which task and which important decisions were made regarding the future of the project. Additionally, you should ask the other participants if they want to add anything. This ensures that the protocol is complete, and nothing is forgotten.
Further recommendations that improve protocol writing[edit]
Additionally, there are helpful suggestions that will make it easier to write and distribute a protocol. If the meeting was very challenging to keep track of, the notes are often not in a format that is easy to understand for the other group members. Therefore, it makes sense to take some time afterwards to edit the notes and provide a more concise version of the text, so that readers understand the text more easily. This is best done directly after the meeting as the memory of everything that was said is still fresh (Smith et al. 2013).
Classically, protocols are written in Word and then distributed via e-mail, e.g., in PDF format. This requires you to write an additional e-mail to all the participants. It is easier and faster to write in a shared document that everyone has access to and that is always stored in the same place. So, the participants do not have to save every protocol on their computers. However, this should only be done in groups where there is a lot of trust among the participants, as it is possible to change the protocol afterwards. When there are a lot of people who are not very familiar with each other, it might still make sense to save the protocol as a PDF.
To make very long protocols easier to read, it is helpful to highlight the most important points. Bold formatting, bullet points and paragraphs help to make the text more accessible, especially for people who did not attend the meeting.
The last and by now maybe most important note is that an increasing number of AI tools allow not only for transcribing meetings, but also to summarize the main points. While aspects of data security should be also considered, such tools can be highly valuable
Links & further reading[edit]
Smith, L. S. (2013). Documenting the minutes at professional meetings. Nursing Management, 44(3), 48-51.
Vassallo, P. (2001). Meeting of the minutes: Writing meeting minutes. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 58(2), 219-225.
The author of this entry is Henrik von Wehrden.