CONTACTS 
0201 - PMI Communications                 704 227 7401 fax 704 227 7414
020101 - Ms. Sandy Jenkins; Manuscript Coordinator

SUBJECTS
SDS Marketing, Advertizing
Writing publication
Project Management Journal,
POIMS Management Technology

0506 -    ..
0507 - Summary
0508 -
050801 - Sandy said Fran has already left for the seminar.  When he returns
050802 - next week, she will see that he gets these two revised pages, ref OF
050803 - 3, and if Fran approves, they will be submitted to the reviewing
050804 - editors.
050805 -
050806 - This means he will not have an opportunity to discuss the revisions
050807 - with the editors when they meet at the seminar, as he indicated in our
050808 - discussion on Sep 12, ref SDS 3 line 041201.
050809 -
050810 - Sandy will let me know if they would like an updated disk with the
050811 - revisions.
050812 -
050813 -
0509 -

SUBJECTS
SDS Marketing, Customer Analysis
Learning period/difficulty
Evaluation by Others
Diary Format, Understanding by Recipient, 910925
Learning/Education
Internal management

0909 - Summary
0910 -
091001 - Sandy indicated initially that the mass of documents submitted with
091002 - the revisions, ref DIP 3, was more confusing than revealing.  This is
091003 - an important point with respect to using SDS as a universal communi-
091004 - cation medium.
091005 -
091006 - She feels the Diary memo is thorough but that the format with the line
091007 - numbers is intimidating and confusing.  Readers need a "road map" to
091008 - find their way around.  We discussed this point a little and I was
091009 - able to explain how to follow the references so she could find each
091010 - one.
091011 -
091012 - I asked Sandy to feel free to let me know of anything about the memo
091013 - format that she feels could be improved upon to facilitate readers in
091014 - following the substance of the information.
091015 -
091016 -
0911 -
0912 -
0913 - Analysis
0914 -
091401 - Contract v. Non-Contract Communications
091402 -
091403 - There is a qualitative difference between communicating on a project
091404 - that binds parties by contract to perform, and communicating with
091405 - non-contracting parties.  While it is imperative to be clear in both
091406 - cases, the burden to "understand" is greater in contracts, particu-
091407 - larly where, as with most contract issues, matters of payment are
091408 - involved.
091409 -
091410 -
091411 - Objective SDS Format
091412 -
091413 - The format intends to communicate understandings with precision and in
091414 - context to facilitate further research when, as, and if, desired.
091415 - Each record shows a history of prior related events and documents
091416 - that lead to the present action.
091417 -
091418 -
091419 - Learning the Format
091420 -
091421 - Generally a 10 minute discussion is adequate to learn how to follow
091422 - the SDS format.  On a project that lasts several months or years, this
091423 - is not significant.  I have used SDS on many projects and have never
091424 - had a contracting party call to complain about the format; although
091425 - occassionally people call for instruction.  Of course in those
091426 - situations they have an interest in learning how to read the thing
091427 - because most SDS records pertian to matters that affect contract
091428 - payments.
091429 -
091430 - On the other hand, in non-contract situations, such as with Sandy at
091431 - PMI, the burden is on the sender (me) to provide an initial explana-
091432 - tion of the record format so the reader (a) is not confused by the
091433 - foreigh appearance of the document, and (b) can find their way around
091434 - the references that are intended to facilitate communication.
091435 -
091436 -
091437 - Highlighting
091438 -
091439 - I explained to Sandy that often I highlight citations and their
091440 - references in the first few SDS memos sent to new Contacts, so they
091441 - can get the gist of how to follow the system.  I did not do that in
091442 - this case, and it was a mistake.
091443 -
091444 -
0915 -
0916 -
0917 - Follow Up
0918 -
091801 - I will send this thing along to Sandy with some highlights to see if
091802 - she thinks that makes it easier to follow.
091803 -
0919 -