Why does one meeting create an hour of writing?
A client meeting happens once. Then it happens again at the desk afterwards, when someone turns scribbled notes into something the firm can file. Then parts of it happen a third time in the follow-up email, rewritten for the client, and a fourth time when the actions are typed into a task list or a CRM.
That is the work done twice, and often three or four times. Each version draws on the same conversation. Nothing carries it from one form to the next, so the person who was in the room has to carry it, usually at the end of the day when their memory is thinnest.
The consequence is that write-ups drift. The note is filed days later, the follow-up goes out after the client has already moved on, and actions agreed in the room quietly go missing. The work done twice looks at why this pattern is so common.
How much does writing up meetings cost?
Work it out from your diary rather than a guess. Take a normal week for one fee earner and count the client meetings and calls. Estimate the minutes spent afterwards on the note, the email and the actions. Multiply by the number of people who meet clients, by their charge-out rate, and by the weeks they work in a year.
Most firms that do this are surprised, because the write-up time is spread across dozens of small gaps between meetings. The unbillable hours calculator does the multiplication, and the audit puts the result next to your other admin.
What does a rebuilt meeting process produce?
From one capture of the meeting, whether a recording made with consent, an online call transcript or the adviser's rough notes, the process produces three things in the firm's own formats:
- The file note. Who attended, what was discussed, what was advised or decided, and what is outstanding, in the structure your firm files.
- The follow-up email. A short summary for the client in your tone, with the agreed next steps and dates, ready to send from the fee earner's own mailbox.
- The actions. Each task assigned to a named person with a due date, placed in the system your team already works from.
The draft appears within minutes of the meeting ending, while the conversation is still fresh. The fee earner reads it, fixes anything that needs their judgement, and approves it. Nothing reaches a client without that step.
What is different for fee earners and their assistants?
Fee earners go from writing to checking. The note and the email are done before they reach their next meeting, so the backlog of write-ups at the end of a busy day stops building.
Assistants and support staff stop typing up dictation and chasing people for the actions from last week's meeting. The actions are already in the system with an owner. Partners reviewing a client relationship find a consistent set of notes rather than a mix of detailed ones and none at all.
Clients see it too. A follow-up that lands the same afternoon, with the actions set out plainly, feels like attentive service.
Which firms rely most on meeting write-ups?
Any firm where advice is given in conversation and has to be recorded afterwards. Financial advisers write up review meetings and suitability discussions. Recruitment firms record candidate and client calls in their CRM all day. Law firms and accountancy firms turn client meetings into attendance notes and follow-up letters.
Where the note becomes part of a formal record on a matter or case, see file notes and case notes, which covers that side in more detail.
How long does it take to put in place?
Thirty days. During week one we watch how meetings are captured and written up now, collect good examples of notes and follow-ups, and agree what must be recorded for each meeting type. In weeks two and three the process is built around your templates and your systems, then run on real meetings with real clients so the team can judge the drafts. By week four it is how meetings are written up, and the team has been trained on it. Support runs for the 30 days after that. There is more on each stage under how we work.