Hi there,
Today is our 50th newsletter! 🎉
Wow! A whole year of newsletters! Thank you all for joining us along the way.
We’re diving into one of my favorite topics today from our original newsletter: How to supercharge your action items.
⚡ Supercharge of the Week
Ever wrap up a conversation and think: Wait, what was I supposed to do again?
Remote Octopus recommends clearly identifying action items during cross-functional conversations.
An action item is exactly as it sounds: an item that needs action. An action item might be big [like writing a project plan] or small [like sending someone a Slack]. Your conversation might have one action item – or many.
A successful action item includes: who is responsible, by when, and the specific details of the task. It is succinct and clear.
Example in Action
Felix: By EOW, share draft project plan with Engineering via Slack.
4️⃣ strategies to figure out your action items:
LISTEN for someone discussing something that they – or someone else – will complete. This might also sound like someone asking for something specific to be completed.
If you hear: I need to email Amina with the draft agenda later this week.
Then that might become ➡️ Claire: By EOW, email Amina draft agenda.
SYNTHESIZE a discussion or update. In this case, you’re actively listening to a speaker or conversation between multiple speakers then pausing to synthesize the discussion and get clarity on action items.
You might say: This conversation is really resonating. Rishi, it sounds like we should coordinate with Legal, what might our next steps be?
CLARIFY what you are hearing and gather additional details. People might be discussing a task or action item – but they might not be mentioning a timeline or who on the team is responsible. Information is missing.
You might say: It sounds like we need to finalize the budget soon. I’m wondering if we have a target date or know who might be responsible?
ASK a question about what the action item might be. Saving the easiest for last!
You might say: What’s our action item from this discussion?
But wait! What are we supposed to do with these action items?!
Identifying action items together during a call is just the first step.
It’s equally important to consider how we’re documenting the action items for the team so they can reference next steps after the conversation. We’ll dive into several documentation strategies for action items next week!
🐙 Remote Octopus Resources
Ready to level up operational excellence for your team? Check out our resources:
