CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Action Items, 950729
Prepared Nobody Has Time on Information
Microcosm Power to Organize, Link Complex
Command and Control of the Record Discovers
Productivity of Meetings very Poor, People
Prepared for Work
Action Item Review Meeting Prepration Record

1209 -    ..
1210 - Summary/Objective
1211 -
121101 - Follow up ref SDS 7 0000, ref SDS 6 0000.
121102 -
121103 - Entered the record of work yesterday.
121104 -
121105 -     [On 970508 created function to add action items to an existing
121106 -     review record. ref SDS 8 0001
121107 -
121108 -
1212 -
1213 -
1214 - Evaluation and Application
1215 -
121501 - The action item system explained on 970505, ref SDS 6 UL4J, will make
121502 - it a lot easier and faster to prepare a composite SDS record for
121503 - discussing Action Items.  Maintainence and follow up will also be
121504 - expedited.  I am guessing it will save 2 - 4 hours initial preparation
121505 - time and another 2 - 4 hours per week for tracking stuff.
121506 -
121507 - The new feature empowers leaders to be prepared by providing greater
121508 - command and control of Knowledge Space, explained on 970425.
121509 - ref SDS 5 2222
121510 -
121511 -     [This estimate includes using the 2nd function created the next
121512 -     day. ref SDS 8 0001
121513 -
121514 - When I prepared the SDS Schedule task for Action Item review meeting
121515 - with Dutra on 961126, it took a long time to set up the record.
121516 - ref SDS 3 6388
121517 -
121518 - On 961127 Herb Cheong reported the Action Item meeting was very
121519 - effective, ref SDS 4 7306
121520 -
121521 - To prepare for that meeting I used the Action Item report function to
121522 - find all pending Action Items.  This took 5 - 10 seconds!  The SDS
121523 - Action Item report simply produces what everybody is trying to do
121524 - which is keep track of Action Items, i.e., maintain a "To Do" list.
121525 - ..
121526 - This new feature provides the ability to create a dedicated
121527 - record to meet and deal, and so adds considerable value to existing
121528 - procedure. Formerly, I had to manually transfer the stuff into a
121529 - scheduled task record and manually create the links that make the
121530 - meeting effective by helping people remember the context and
121531 - background of an Action Item.
121532 -
121533 - As a result there was less Action Item review following the 961126
121534 - meeting, because of the time and effort needed to prepare.  There is
121535 - always a lot of background work needed for effective Action Item
121536 - review.  We have to meet with people and prepare them.  Give them
121537 - clues about how to deal with matters.  We have to distribute notice to
121538 - contracting parties.  These steps take time, as shown in the record on
121539 - 961126. ref SDS 2 0001
121540 -
121541 - By reducing the effort and time required to prepare for Action Item
121542 - review meetings, we increase the chances that review will occur and
121543 - that it will be effective.
121544 -
121545 - Typically this record only needs to be used once for a particular
121546 - subject because after that the same record will be use to track
121547 - follow up.
121548 -
121549 - I have planned to create a second menu function to add new follow up
121550 - entries in an existing Action Item review meeting record, per ref SDS
121551 - 6 line 59.
121552 -
121553 -     [See follow up created second function, ref SDS 8 line 97.]
121554 -
121555 - Seems like at some point an Action Item takes on a life of its own and
121556 - possibly should be assigned in the Subject Index, although the concept
121557 - of this system is not to do that in order to avoid proliferating
121558 - things to follow.  One way to avoid this is to only assign Action
121559 - Items numbers after they have been through an Action Item review
121560 - meeting more than once.
121561 -
121562 - A lot of actions are identified simply to make sure the work is
121563 - performed.  If the work is later found to have been performed, there
121564 - is no need to identify it as a separate Action Item in the Subject
121565 - Index.  If it is not performed, then it may warrant Action Item status
121566 - or it could change and become an "Issue".  This is the same as a
121567 - "subject" in SDS.  Usually this reflects a dispute status which would
121568 - typically be identified as a claim.
121569 -
121570 -
121571 -
121572 -
121573 -