Between the Lines: Putting Pen to Paper

As interns, we know the importance of taking notes to write tasks down, take meeting minutes, and keep track of what we did today... 

In this blog I thought I'd write about something we do every day; write. Yet how we write makes all the difference. 

Hidden Details

You always hear about people expected to be detail-oriented and be able to discern the fine print in most situations. It seems like common sense, yet sometimes you really miss what's right in front of you. I'm sure most of us would agree that doing the same thing continuously hinders our progress, and maybe even makes us susceptible to miss the finer details.

For example, when I noticed that the signature image at the end of our standard emails for potential exhibitors was from last year with the wrong dates, I just thought, how could anyone not have noticed? So I changed it and now it’s not misleading anymore. This really shows that it’s all in the details, and anyone can miss a minor hidden one; but if you're the one to pick up on these it's a good skill to have. 

Take Note 

Another iceberg, another lesson

Another good skill to have is the art of note taking. Recently I read this really interesting Harvard Business Review article, about the amount of information we miss when we take notes on our laptops instead of good old-fashioned pen and paper. Although we may take a larger quantity of notes whilst typing away on our keyboards, writing long-hand helps us remember the context of what we've noted down instead of a word-for-word transcript. This is something that I really resonate with; I've always been a 'pen and paper' kind of girl. Writing instead of typing always makes it feel like you're connecting with what you're writing, which makes you remember the context of your notes. 

Other articles I've come across about the art of note taking have been from Lifehack and Scientific American; all coming to the same conclusion that people who write out their notes long-hand have a longer-lasting understanding of the material, than people who type their notes digitally. I just find it fascinating, because in class most of us sit glued to the keyboard, transferring each word said by our lecturers onto the digital page, thinking we'll remember it all because we have such extensive notes. Yet in reality, how many of us go back over these notes, tucked away in some virtual folder, to revise them? When you've got something physically in front of you, I think you're more likely to tend to it.

I remember before I started uni, I was questioning whether I would have to bring a laptop with me to lectures to take notes; already imagining I'd be the only one who didn't know how to touch-type and scribbling away in a notebook instead. As usual, I worried about something that didn't need fretting about.  

Client Meetings
As interns we're bound to be in several meetings, trying to absorb as much as we can from team and client meetings. There have been so many things I felt like I needed to write down so I wouldn't forget them, such as tasks, deadlines, a brief to-do list (which ended up being added to all the time), key words, logins and passwords, phone numbers, random calculations... I find it's really handy, and quite frankly necessary, to have a notepad with you on the go. 

Meetings are a great opportunity for exposure to observe more. Such as how your managers interact with existing and/or potential clients, how they go about creative a solution when they can't see eye-to-eye, and how they maintain their client relations. Client relations in a Forbes article points out what we already know; that exceptional client service makes up the core value for organisations. 


I went a bit further and found a blog post which covered some tips for building long-lasting client relationships, and one of the first things it read was the obvious truth that there is a multitude of ways to keep in contact with clients; phone calls, emails, Skype, social media, face-to-face meetings... this brings about the question of how do you know which is the best to use at which time? 

In meetings I default to be the note taker, detailing discussion topics, general agenda minutes and key points to remember; either for the team in the future or just for myself. It's a really good way to remember important facts or helpful tips, and your custom hand-written notes are also great prompts to refresh your memory of what you did on any given day at your internship. 

And the best part is they don't have to be neat!