Elf

"Why Being the Note-Taker in a Meeting 
is a Power Move"

Google Movie Synopsis:

Buddy (Will Ferrell) was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood among Santa's elves. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn't fit in, the adult Buddy travels to New York, in full elf uniform, in search of his real father. As it happens, this is Walter Hobbs (James Caan), a cynical businessman. After a DNA test proves this, Walter reluctantly attempts to start a relationship with the childlike Buddy with increasingly chaotic results.

Scenario:

After Walter tells Buddy he never wants to see him, staff members barge into his office with some good news about a notebook they found.

Selected Scene:

Eugene:         Walter, breakthrough! We’ve found this in the conference room.

Walter:           What is it?

Eugene:         It’s Miles Finch’s notebook, this thing is chalked full of genius ideas, I mean look at that . . .

Morris:            And his best idea is about a peach that lives on a farm, what’s more vulnerable than a peach.

Walter:           What the, what do we do?

Eugene:         I think we should go with the first pitch, it it’s genius

Walter:           Uh, how much time we got?

Eugene:         We got like 45 minutes

Walter:           Well c’mon, let’s try to get a story board or something ready

Morris:            C’mon let’s do it

Walter:           No, you cant sit down and get a storyboard ready, go and get a story board!

Business Tip:

Note-taking is a lost art, if mastered it can be another advantage you will be able to leverage for career advancement and professional growth. Jotting down notes will help you organize your thoughts and provide clarification of roles and responsibilities, as well as action items with all parties impacted by the meeting discussion.  In the case of Miles Fitch, his notebook was a place for him to jot down his best ideas and not risk losing them to memory (okay, so he lost them in a brawl with Buddy, but that’s another tip for later).

The act or perception of taking notes can be a “power” move. What most people don’t realize, coming to a meeting with a pen and pad sends a positive message to any executive in the meeting--for this reason, I suggest leaving the Ipad or laptop at your desk, unless you feel comfortable stating at the top of the meeting you will be taking notes.  Writing down notes while someone is talking shows the speaker, you value the comments enough to document them and gives the speaker the impression you are genuinely interested in what he/she is saying. We all know, being the one assigned to take notes is often looked down upon, most people see note-taking as an administrative task. Actually, writing down something you hear has been proven to increase your memory of what was said and places you in a position of knowledge, especially if you create a private “notebook” of meetings and conversations for future reference.  If you’ve been asked to share your notes, you’re in a position to provide "your" highlights of the meeting while positioning yourself as a source of information. Remember, Information is Power!