As a Product Manager, there have been a few instances when I missed out putting things down on paper.
And later regretted that! I don’t want the same to happen to you.
Few instances where I screwed up: 1) Publishing the notes / minutes of a meeting where a wireframe was discussed and approved by the consumers. 2) Discussed a small requirement with the engg team but did not put that into the PRD. 3) Discussed, a success / release criteria but did not put that in the plan.
When you put things down on paper / email –
- The communication/ message gets a date to it.
- The written message becomes an evidence of a communication that happened.
This :
- Drives clarity and forces people to come onto the same page if they are not w.r.t a decision / process.
- Clearly calls out the people responsible for any action items and the expected timelines. (at least a good note does that)
- Also, clearly admits any open items.
This is a BIG DEAL for organizations / people who deal with a lot of people./ or with people who tend to forget things.
Absolutely agree, Pankaj. Have been there. Another level of improvement occurs, when you somehow inculcate this practice in every team member. This esp. Becomes important in consultancy set up when there are so many meetings and change variables that you tend to loose track of what all is going on. Wise words indeed.
Thanks Kalyan! 🙂 With too many meetings happening, one tends to skip writing the notes for each. Then it gets important to prioritize and put down things for the most important parts of each meeting.(Most important points – at least from your perspective and let others add more if needed).