For some people, a computer will never replace a pen and paper for note-taking during meetings. But for others, electronic notes may make more sense, especially if they have to share them electronically anyway. Here are three questions to determine which way is best.

If you frequently use the same words, phrases or paragraphs, you probably open up old meeting notices or emails to copy and paste. With Outlook 2010's Quick Parts, you essentially have a permanent clipboard. For example, say you have specific language that you use for mandatory meetings. Here’s what to do.

If you want to get the most for your money when booking meeting or event space, you need to negotiate, says Anthony Coyle-Dowling. Don’t just accept the price you’ve always paid for the place you usually use or take the first price you’re quoted at a new location.

High-speed presentations, rambling discussions, unclear decisions, and vague action items at meetings without agendas make life hard for meeting note-takers, writes Lynn Gaertner-Johnston. Here are a few of her tips for organizing meetings that are easier to record.

Let’s say you have a meeting scheduled to discuss resolving customer complaints. To prepare for the meeting, attendees search their inboxes and network drives to find related files they’ll need to begin visualizing a process. By inserting some of these objects into the meeting notice, you can help attendees better prepare for the meeting.

Few things annoy office workers more than unnecessary and un­­pro­­ductive meetings, surveys find. People wander off topic, send texts instead of listening, and behave in all sorts of dysfunctional ways. Keep your team meetings on task by adopting a few techniques.