Analysing Meeting Records: An Ethnographic Study and Technological Implications

1. Analysing Meeting Records: An Ethnographic Study and Technological Implications Steve Whittaker, Rachel Laban and Simon Tucker University of Sheffield

2. Introduction • Meetings are inefficient. • Estimates of productivity ranges from 33-47% • Inefficient in many ways • Process Loss • Free Riding • Conformance Pressure • Information Loss

3. Introduction • Previous work has developed technology for capturing and reviewing meeting discussions. • Predominant technologies in use today are still low-tech. • Important to revisit the issue of information capture. • Examine representations and processing of meeting information • Use this examination to empirically evaluate current meeting access technology

4. Presentation Outline • Description of Study into meeting records • Analysis of Public meeting records • Analysis of Personal meeting records • Examination of technological implications • Conclusion

5. Study Context • We examined two UK service firms • One responsible for mail deliveries • One supplying software services • Observed a series of meetings for teams in each case • Teams had between 5 and 7 members • Meetings examined ranged from 3 to 16 participants • Meetings were task-oriented

6. Data Collected • We collected a wide range of data • Observations of behaviour • Analysis of personal notes • Pre and post interviews with participants • Transcripts made of a subset of all the meetings • Confidentiality preserved

7. Public Meeting Records • Most commonly this will be minutes • Shared record of decisions and action points for a single meeting • Generally produced by a single person – a designated “minuter” • Minutes are a highly abstract representation of the events of the meeting.

8. Function of public records • Tracking Group Progress • Meetings often begin by running through the minutes from the previous meeting • Serve to assist individuals co-ordinate their actions • A public record of past actions and decisions • Very occasionally minutes used to answer questions regarding past commitments

9. Function of Public Records • Remind people about their commitments • Serve as a communal todo list • Resolve disputes about commitments • The minutes act as an implicit contract between group members • Minutes are often formally signed off • Used to determine who was assigned to particular tasks

10. Limitations of Public Records • Not all meetings were minuted • Minutes were occasionally inaccurate • Participants often checked the minutes against their own notes. • Minutes lack contextual information. • Hence participants must take their own notes. • Minutes are selective • Minutes are not timely • Often taking a number of days to produce

11. Limitations of Public Records • Laborious to produce • Designated minuter required – reduced contribution • Minutes don’t capture meeting experience • Participants may require a richer meeting record • Peripheral aspects • Minutes largely only record decisions and actions

12. Personal Meeting Records • Participants address the limitations of public meeting records by taking own notes • Personal records highly valued • Notes reflect personal perspective • Largely consist of decisions, actions and context • Often cryptic, used as more of a memory aid. • Can be used to inform non-attendees

13. Functions of Personal Records • Personal Reminders • Provide contextual information • Check accuracy of minutes • Brief others on meeting contents

14. Limitations of Personal Records • Taking notes reduces the ability to contribute • Notes often lack accuracy and comprehensibility • Esoteric nature makes it difficult for non-attendees to understand.

15. Technological Implications • Current technology addresses the limitations of public records • Can provide both a contextual and immersive experience • No longer laborious or untimely • Although some problems are still present • Current meeting browsers offer no abstraction facilities • There is a question of the formality of automatically generated meeting records

16. Technological Implications • Technology also addresses the limitations of personal records. • Reduces the burden on producing contextual records • Non-attendees no longer hindered by esoterics • Again, there are still problems with technology • Browsers do not exploit progress in note-taking technology • Lack of direct access to decisions and actions

17. Summary • We have examined the use of meeting records in two firms. • Meetings generally produce two sets of records: • Public record – generally minutes. • Personal records – generally personal notes • We noted the advantages and disadvantages of both sets of records • We briefly examined how technology is addressing the limitations of the records.