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Taking Notes during Phone Calls
4

Taking Notes during Phone Calls

Taking Notes during Phone Calls

(OP)
When things go wrong, it often helps to dig up records of communications.  Letters and e-mails can be dredged up, but phone calls disappear into the ether once you hang up.

Over the past few years, I have been developing a habit of making notes during phone calls to make up for an imperfect memory on my part.  Whether negotiating regulatory requirements with gov't officials, or discussing what the customer needs, sorting out who said what after months have gone by can be very difficult without something to jog your memory.

I'm still not doing it all the time, and often regret it later.

Have a pad of paper handy beside the phone at all times, and capture the main topics as you chat with your colleague, as unobtrusively as possible.  If anything even remotely important was discussed, re-write the notes in greater detail on a piece of paper.  The act of re-writing the details you just discussed will also help fix it in your memory.

Put the piece of paper somewhere that you can find later.  My work goes from project to project, so the file of paperwork for that project is the ideal place.


Steven Fahey, CET

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I have a project notebook that I use at meetings and taking notes while on the phone.  If I'm talking with a customer about a design or problem of some sort I always follow up with an e-mail to summarize our phone conversation.  Now I have two data points.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I have a phone log template for my word processor.  Since I type faster than I write, if the phone conversation starts to get interesting I fire up the keyboard.  That's also handy because as soon as I get off the phone, I have something I can send to a boss or co-worker to explain what I learned on the phone.

I should do it all the time but I don't.  For a while, just for bookkeeping purposes, I was logging what calls I made, but even that fell by the wayside.

Hg

Eng-Tips guidelines:  FAQ731-376

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

If this is for your own benefit "my memory is lousy" etc. then this is solid advice.
However, if as a result of this conversation you commit yourself or your company to some line of action that could come back and bite you, this is not enough.
Your own telephone notes might be considered "self-serving" and cannot be considered binding on anyone else.
The best advice is get it in writing i.e. get the other guy to write and confirm that he accepts what you are going to do.
If necessary say "OK, I'll write up a summary and once you've okayed it we can get started."

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

Good point jmw.
"that's not what I said, that's what you think I said"

I would have to write things down afterward. I can't talk and write at the same time. But then again, I can't seem to think and talk at the same time so I try to use email whenever possible.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I got my boss to spring for a headset - so I can use both hands to type (notepad.exe) while I'm on the phone.  I type more during voicemails than I do during live phone calls, but it works either way.  When I'm done, if something important was covered, sometimes I'll paste into an email and send it back.  More often, I paste a sentence or two into a reminder on my calendar and delete the messages.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

Well, I do make notes when the call is important and has some significance.  It becomes too much to write everything down on every phone call.  Once the call is over, and the conversation is still fresh in the memory and with the help of the notes where I would have written the key points, I quickly send an e-mail confirming the telecon and asking the other person to confirm the same, just in case something is missed out or misunderstood.

HVAC68

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

(OP)
Misunderstandings...

Yesterday I was in a government official's office discussing a project.  When he sprung new info on me, and presented me with his concerns, I was deliberately non-committal, to buy myself time to think about it.
When I got back to the office, he had already sent an e-mail to my boss, saying that I had agreed to a course of action.

I think I need to carry a tape-recorder with me!

I wouldn't treat notes from a phone call as a contract or an affadavit.  It is only a memory aid.  Our projects are sometimes unearthed for audits, revisions, and so forth, and it is often useful to trace back the path of reasoning that led to the final result.

Steven Fahey, CET

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I take notes on _everything_, especially internal meetings.

I too use Notepad, because it doesn't get in the way.  I like the timestamp feature; F5.

Every project, hundreds a year, gets a Notepad file containing short declarative sentences recording who said what to whom, what was agreed on, what sort of died on the table, plus pasted-in copies of email messages, results of database inquiries, drawing numbers, whatever.

"If you didn't write it down, it didn't happen."  <--- It took a long time for me to understand and accept that.

Every day, I use ZtreeWin and a Zip disk to snag a copy of whatever changed on that day and transfer it to a duplicate directory tree at home.


Mike Halloran
NOT speaking for
DeAngelo Marine Exhaust Inc.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

Could use ACT which is a relational database?

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I take 2 types of phone records.  Formal and informal.  Formal are for the regulatory or contract types, time, date, specific items noted, and if necesary follow up with an e-mail and it all gets put into project file.  Informal I keep a note book with day and time.  If you have a note with day and time and the person you are dealing with doesn't, his credibility will not stand up, yours will.  It won't solve all your problems but it helps.  I have a binder with 5 years worth of notes and e-mail on my shelf, those are the informal ones not in project files.  Its good CYA.

Al CET,EIT

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

At my first job at an engineering company I was talking on the phone one day with the client.  He asked me to pass a message to the Electrical Engineer, a man with plenty of experience.  When I delivered the message, the EE said I was mistaken because the information contradicted the established design at our client's site.  I dropped the point because I did not understand the subject and I had delivered the message.

A few days later, during a project review meeting, the subject came up again.  I stated what I had heard, and the Project Manager asked me, directly, if I was sure about what I said.  So I turned back in my project notebook and found the phone conversation notes, looked at them, then answered that, Yes, I was sure.  The message was delivered again, and this time everyone agreed.

After the meeting, the EE stopped me in the hall and said, (paraphrasing) "When you told me what the client said, you didn't tell me that you wrote it down."

I never completely understood that lesson, but I still write things down.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

Quote (MikeHalloran):

I too use Notepad, because it doesn't get in the way.  I like the timestamp feature; F5.

Mike, I gave you a star 'cause I know I'll use that one in future.  

Thanks again
ASM
I am logged in. Therefore I am...

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

HgTX - what app do you use?

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

BigH--I use Word, but just about any word processor can use templates or forms.  The form has blanks for the person's name, number, company; date, time; checkboxes for who called who(m); and then a big area for notes and another area at the bottom for followup information.

LittleH

Eng-Tips guidelines:  FAQ731-376

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I always take notes, by the time I hang up I usually can't even remember who I'm talking to.

If there is anything to be done after the conversation than I e-mail the person to confirm the details.

I try to train everyone I'm working with - from bosses, to clients, to contacts EVERYONE to do 90% of their communication by e-mail and I never delete my e-mails.

That meanss there's nearly always a record and it's easily found.

(this may also be due to the fact that I don't like the phone)

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

Bandraoi- agree, every time I put down the phone I think of something I should have asked or said differently. With email you can take 5 or 10 minutes to compose it and review it.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

(OP)
A previous comment got me thinking...

Bandraoi: ...and I never delete my e-mails...

Would you delete these e-mails and notes if you departed the company?

Steven Fahey, CET

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

But email never gets deleted. Someone else will make copies or forward them all over the place. Always best to be polite and not get into an email war.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I've taken a cd copy of my e-mails with me when i've moved offices/left the company.
This also means that when I'm looking at writing a cv/going to an interview/going for chartership I can look over exactly what it was I was doing on a day to day basis.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

The work related emails you send/receive when at work are company property!!!
They should not be deleted when you leave & probably not even copied & removed from the premises.


Making the best use of this Forum.  FAQ559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions.  FAQ559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of.&nbs

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

another take on taking notes...

Take notes during @$$-chewings.
Taking notes when getting chewed out does a couple things:
  • It shows the chewer that the chewee is listening.
  • It causes the chewer to slow down a bit, breathe, and sometimes, to calm down a little.

I could be the world's greatest underachiever, if I could just learn to apply myself.
http://www.EsoxRepublic.com-SolidWorks API VB programming help

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

"The work related emails you send/receive when at work are company property!!!  They should not be deleted when you leave & probably not even copied & removed from the premises."

CorBlimeyLimey, that is not universally true, only if there is an agreement in place beforehand.  I am a business owner and I know the difference between employment and ownership.

If your company is dealing with sensitive information, you should have an policy in place to properly respect the information.  However, there is also a place for proper respect of the individual.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

As far as e-mails go I have virtually every e-mail I sent at a company.  One person there, read boss, had a habit of selective e-mail and phone reference use.  He would forward, reply, whatever e-mails when to his advantage.  Having the follow up is practical.  My favourite is "that is what I said but not what I meant(?)".  How can you counter that without having what he said, especially were it litigated?

Keep it! Record it! Document it!  If you do not you might not like your new room mate.

By the way I am in a happy place now.  But the same rules apply.

Al CET, EIT

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

Re Emails,

A past employer had a habit of sending me Emails in block capitals reminding me of "my responsibilities to the company".
I spoke to him explaining that block capitals was widely considered to be shouting and that reminding me of my responsibilities was threatening, I then went on to say that if that was how he felt then he should tell me to my face. His response was that I was "overeacting".
I then informed him that a copy of all such emails, with my personal comments annotated on the bottom were copied and stored at home. Since that conversation I never had to copy another Email.

Karl.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

On the other hand, any of you guys and gals remember Nixon?

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

re: Nixon...

That's when it pays to act ethically.  It's usually safe to forget or be recorded when one is acting ethically.

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I tried the "phone log" approach thanks to the suggestions on this thread.  I have to admit, I don't have to store extraneous information in my head anymore!  (more time to think about... hmmm... )
Anyways, I have it categorized into projects, so that when my boss says, "have you asked so-and-so for the revised drawing?" I can look on the phone log for that project and say, "why, yes of course.  He will email it to me by next Tuesday."  It's useful, AND it makes me look like I'm on-the-ball!

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I've got a notebook that I use to keep track of things I do during the day, including phone calls, personal conversations, meetings, things I need to do, etc.  If it is something important for a project I will transfer it to the project file.  

I take this notebook with me when ever I go somewhere.  I can't count the number of times that it has come in handy.  

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

Ethical or not it is never safe.  When the other person is not ethical you are not safe!  Manipulation and mis representation is the order of the day.  If he says "you said this" and he is the only person with a record you ARE HOSED.  If you have the entire record then you can PROVE context.  If you get called to court and you do not have ANY records, even scribble notes you ARE HOSED.  This is the basis for any Project Management or Project Leadership.

Remember when there is a smoking hole.  It's not just what you say (if that even matters)it's what you can document.  

Sounds paranoid.  But as a PE and as a professional you are responsible for your actions, both now and in the future.  How good is your memory?  Where were you august 24 1996?

RE: Taking Notes during Phone Calls

I keep a lab notebook handy.

Write down everything simply in chronological order.

If I am on a big full time project I start new notebooks specifically for that project, if on a number of smaller ones then it all goes into one chronologically.

Doesn’t matter what method you use to record, just as long as it is dons and done in such a manner that logs the time and doesn’t allow for pages to go missing or to be added later.



24 August 1996 I was on a project at the paper mill in Fort Frances Ontario. We were installing the main conveyor along the east side of the wood room. The pipe fitters were installing the air conditioner drains from the control room.

I had 10 billable hours that day as it was the Saturday of a 10 on shift. There were a total of 24 contractor personnel on site (I also have trade breakdowns). I made 15 phone calls and received 10 incoming calls. Want to know who called, when and what we talked about?

My notes for that day cover 6 pages in my lab book.

Sorry, did not note what I had for lunch. (Most likely the special at the Fort Hotel)

Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion
www.kitsonengineering.com

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