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I do think that the first line of thought here is your own attitude.... and
demeanor. When I was the "official" minute taker, (and in very hi-tech
environments, where the technical talk was beyond the admin's level of
expertise) -- I didn't get my sense of "empowerment" from outside, but I
internalized it myself, because I realized that what I was doing was
powerful, and whether others saw it that way was not my concern. In fact, I
think because *I* treated it as a powerful position, others would--and did--
realize it as well. I became the keeper of the restricted access drive, and
eventually the keeper of information. I also did more than simply taking
the "notes" because those minutes contained action items, and they would
become part of project plans, thus I eventually became a project manager.
Those things seemed to evolve "naturally" (logically, at least)..... and I
was well paid to do all that plus much much more... ;-) (maybe this is the
difference between "reactive" and "proactive" behavior.)
hth...
Nancy McDonald
Sr. Project Manager
UUNET a WorldCom Company
Web Hosting Operations
5000 Britton Rd
Hilliard OH 43026
Email: nmcdonal -at- wcom -dot- net
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carol Anne T. Wall [SMTP:mmpc0014 -at- pclink -dot- com]
> So, here's my follow-up question for those of you who see taking minutes
> as
> a source of personal/professional power -- how do you make it
> empowering? It has to be something beyond our personal attitude because
> the people who currently take minutes don't feel empowered and can't wait
> to get rid of the task. I don't think the writers are being "empowered"
> by
> management.
>
> Thanks again for your input.
>
> Carol Anne
>
IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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