[b-school] Change is continuous

[mangosteen]

Note: This has worked for me more often than not. Edge cases are a certainty.

Number #whatever in Things I've started doing of my own accord, likely attributable to b-school:

1. Before making a business phone call, I write out three points I'd like to talk about in the call. More than that and it's a meeting. Less than that, and it might be better in email to start with.

2. During the call, I make quick notes of the responses.

3. At the end of the call, I verify the responses from my notes, and inform the person that mail will be sent out with the agreed upon points, and also inform them of the likely Cc: list.

4. Send the mail.

Realization: "If it's not written down, it doesn't exist" isn't just a defensive (or offensive) business maneuver. In fact, thinking of it as a maneuver is a pretty bad idea, too.

Comments

[sweh.livejournal.com]

I'm having to teach my co-worker this. He's taking part in meetings where the guy running the meeting says 'x' to the participants, then says 'y' to management. There are, of course, no minutes. So I told my co-worker that _he_ should take his own minutes and then send out to the group "this is what I understood we discussed; please correct me if I'm wrong". Of course the guy running the meeting replies with contradictions. But what it means is that these discrepancies are now documented and can be used to come to an agreement, rather than waiting for management mis-expectations to hit.

[also-huey.livejournal.com]

That's der thingy. If someone is going to promise someone else that I'm going to deliver something that requires the suspension of the laws of physics (usually in the form of the 28-hour workday) at the very least I want a written record of me saying "I pointed out that this would take approximately three times longer to produce". ...and CC management all around.