Several years ago, I was introduced to a building owner's facility engineer who was responsible for guiding the design team and the construction manager through the construction of a new 280,000-sq-ft pediatric care facility. A registered engineer and a person who could see the "big picture," this person taught me several things about the building process. One of the more lasting memories I have of this specific job was how he took charge and managed the design and construction team, and in particular, how he did this through meeting minutes. Around the same time, I was also the design engineer on another hospital project where the construction management firm's project manager was the individual taking charge of the process. Together, these two individuals helped me to appreciate the importance of meeting minutes. This month I thought I'd share their approach.
The first rule of a meeting is to have an agenda. When starting out on a project, there are no current action items to report in the meeting minutes, but you certainly should have a "kickoff" agenda. Assuming a meeting consists of more than one person, it is imperative that time is not wasted for anyone attending the meeting. The agenda sets the stage for time management of the process.