Recording Meetings
Recording Meetings
(OP)
This post is will hopefully benefit someone who was like me a few years ago, starting out, wondering "how to do it" in terms of solid business practices.
After just going through a 'difference' in opinion on what was said during a project meeting that meant the difference between me being wrong (and sued) and the client eating their fair share of blame, I just wanted to say that if you are an engineer and you have clients, you need to audio record your meetings.
The audio recorders are so cheap, and these days small (about the size of a small candy bar), relative to a "he said said you said" conversation, there is no comparison.
An audio recording is undeniable, keeps people honest (because they know you recorded them) and is worth its weight 20 times over in solid gold in terms of protecting you from getting sued. Honest clients appreciate you doing it because it shows that you value what they say.
My only regret is not making routine audio recordings of all my client meetings sooner. Hopefully this helps someone out.
After just going through a 'difference' in opinion on what was said during a project meeting that meant the difference between me being wrong (and sued) and the client eating their fair share of blame, I just wanted to say that if you are an engineer and you have clients, you need to audio record your meetings.
The audio recorders are so cheap, and these days small (about the size of a small candy bar), relative to a "he said said you said" conversation, there is no comparison.
An audio recording is undeniable, keeps people honest (because they know you recorded them) and is worth its weight 20 times over in solid gold in terms of protecting you from getting sued. Honest clients appreciate you doing it because it shows that you value what they say.
My only regret is not making routine audio recordings of all my client meetings sooner. Hopefully this helps someone out.





RE: Recording Meetings
https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03...
Second, ask your client, not all appreciate it.
Use your cell phone to do the recording, you probably don't need another device
RE: Recording Meetings
Perhaps the best solution is to send an email with the salient points as you understood them. The receiver has an opportunity to correct/clarify any misunderstandings, and it's now a written record that both parties are agreeing to. Arguing against such a record in court is an uphill climb... if the receiver changes his mind later, you have proof that was not their original viewpoint.
Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Recording Meetings
Point 2....if you have a lawyer in a meeting, they will generally vehemently resist recording the meeting! I had one tell me once "if you record this meeting it is over right now!"
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Please remember: we're not all guys!
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Cheers
Greg Locock
New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: Recording Meetings
If as Greg says you take notes as you go along, recap them - especially any actions & decisions - at the end of the meeting and then circulate them shortly after with request that anyone who doesn't agree lets you know within x time frame or similar that should work well.
Also means you've confirmed all points twice which reduces chance of misunderstandings.
Takes a little more effort than hitting record but imo gives more benefit too.
I rarely hold a meeting without sending minutes or at least confirmation email afterwards.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
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And, just as I posted this, I now see KENAT has said the exact same thing before I could.
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Let's face it, a recording would be great, but if you take minutes plus get concurrence from the participants, that's pretty iron clad too.
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This worked for me without any complaints.
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.
RE: Recording Meetings
RE: Recording Meetings
But in many cases it comes into its own regarding disputes about timing and something the Contractor said but was denying even if it's only to refresh you memory of events. It is enough to say to the Contractor 'I don't think that's correct, I'll have to go back through my call recordings and check' to get them to change their tune as they know that the game is up.
Moral of the story is that it's there as an important fall back if it's really required.
RE: Recording Meetings
RE: Recording Meetings
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Actually, I tried tape recordings long before that, but they broke up the flow of the meeting and/or missed stuff during tape changes.
Just as truckandbus said, that meant I had to endure the meeting twice. ... at least.
Real Dictaphone(r) systems' transcription stations had special no-hands functions, including a footpedal to control the playback, playback at faster than real time speed (for fast typists), and auto-backspace that would back up a few seconds on restarting, so you could recall the preceding few words. Without features like that, transcription is a nightmare of moving your hands from recorder to keyboard and back.
It took me most of a day to transcribe a two hour meeting, so I decided it was not an efficient use of my time.
After that, I copied the audio file to a hard drive just in case of conflict,
but published a summary of my own notes as minutes.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
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Then they snuck the answer they wanted me to give but never did, in the meeting minutes. I had to correct and return the minutes, which lead to another conference call... This was about 7 years ago so I don't recall the name of the service, but I'm sure there are plenty with recording features.
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I would also be concerned about making people ill at ease by recording them. It may not be that they have anything to hide or plan to change their mind - in fact it could be quite the opposite. The folks who want to build trust, see themselves as people who stick to their word, and prefer a handshake-deal instead of lawyers and contracts, are usually the best people to work with, but probably the most annoyed by recordings.
STF
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Writing down with pen/pencil/paper resulted in a better retention rate.
(Note: the study was supposed to have been funded by a pencil manufacturer)
Like others above: Take meeting minutes and send out for approval from all parties. I've found that few actually have time to read the minutes, so at least keep a record that the minutes were sent. Better yet, have it signed by the correct parties for approval of minutes.
______________________________________________________________________________
This is normally the space where people post something insightful.
RE: Recording Meetings
RE: Recording Meetings
But it was still a chore.
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.
RE: Recording Meetings
I have never recorded a meeting, but have had a few recorded, plus any work "on the record" (hearings, etc).
Simplest format for me is at the end of the meeting, verify what we touched on the agenda, read out everyone there's action items if they have any, and send the basic minutes afterwords for review/comment.
A well defined written agenda with whitespace for simple notes, and notebook for more complex stuff is my go-to method. At the bottom of the agenda I always have three columns "Action Item", "Who", "Due Date".
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Our perspectives are obviously shaped by our experiences, and personally I feel that learning from someone's experience is just a way to improve myself.
The problem I have had, again based on my personal experience, with note taking is that you are not always aware of what the 'key' items are, combined with the fact that some clients are not going to respond to an email that says please tell me if my notes are not complete or are different than yours.
For instance, I had a meeting with client where we spoke about some attic truss feature that was not a highlight at the time. Turns out that after the trusses showed up, the truss web configuration was different than a concept model I had drawn for the meeting, 9 months earlier. The reason they were different is because they were designed by a truss manufacturer, not by me. In the meeting, I specifically said, "this configuration will change". Well for the clients wife, who couldn't speak construction lingo, this little line of verbage went in one ear and out the other. The truss package showed up and she couldn't fit her christmas lights in this attic as she had envisioned.
From that day on she wouldn't talk to me, and the owner went home every-night and heard what a fool I was from his wife. In every conversation with him from that point on it was obvious that he thought I had 'missed' it, so he had little confidence in anything else I did on the job. No matter how I tried to explain, reason, or point out what was said, they were dead set in what "I had told them", despite the fact that I had not told them what they remembered.
Your notes are only what you hear or feel is what is worth writing. A recorder catches every single word....including the ones you don't know are important at the time. Just my 2 cents based on my past experience.
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Now many complaints end with 'here are the pictures....'
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P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube
RE: Recording Meetings
RE: Recording Meetings