Life is full of actions that are simple but not easy. Want to lose weight? Consume less calories than you burn. Want to save money? Spend less than you earn. Want to accomplish a goal? Build out a plan with a timeline and stick to it.
Simple, right? But none of those actions are easy. We want, we are impulsive, life happens, discipline fails. We’ve all been there.
This week’s blog is about something else that is simple but not easy: When people talk, take notes. Always. No one’s memory is reliable. Simple in concept, right? But having the discipline to always put it into action is not easy. I’ve learned that the hard way. Every single time I convince myself that I can rely on memory alone, I miss something.
If you’ve worked with me, you know I am never without my computer at a meeting. I have thousands of notes on clients and projects saved in a word document file. I call them FMN, which stand for Forget Me Not. I like the way that sounds – like a lovely flower, which for whatever reason in my brain turns this into an action that I want to do, instead of something I have to do.
Take it to the next level by making it easy for your clients – When you are giving advice on a call or leading a meeting, send a confirmation email to everyone involved. They may not subscribe to this advice, and are still relying on their memory. When it fails, what happens? Balls get dropped, timelines are missed, and even if it’s “not your fault” because the client missed it, client satisfaction drops. That confirmation email is critical to avoid that mishap, and it gives everyone a chance to add their thoughts in the email chain in case you missed something.
This time, tell me about a time where you didn’t take notes/send the confirmation email, and a step was missed, so that we can all learn from you as well. I’d love to hear from you! Put this one to work in your professional world and watch your projects smooth out with this simple, but not easy, step.
