Running the List

[mangosteen]

When I was in professional services, one of the things that I noticed I did was I ran a very specific list of diagnostics at the beginning of a customer meeting.

• Who is the most important person in the room?
• How technical is this group of people?
• What kind of mood are they in?
• Do they appear to be in a hurry, or are they settling in for the long haul

Comments

[rosefox]

* How long is this thing I have to edit?
* What type of editing am I being paid to give it? (Not the same as "what type of editing does it need"!)
* Who's the audience?
* How dense or complicated is it? Will it require an unusual amount of effort to understand? Will I have to rephrase things so they make sense to the audience?
* How clean-of-typos is it? Even if I'm not being paid to clean up typos, are there so many that they'll get in the way of big-picture edits?
* What's my deadline? Can I reasonably expect to get it done by the deadline, or do I need to request an extension? How should I arrange my work time to get it done by the deadline?

I don't think anything here is obscure, but let me know if I'm wrong. :)

[thornsilver]

*Does the person who needs me to do this know anything about how accounting works?

*Does the person who needs me to do this have any idea how does this business work?

*Does the person who needs me to this actually know what they want?

*How much data do I have to process for the result?

*How much do I have to double check the data available?

*What is the software/hardware I have to work with?

[tisiphone]

I work in a different area, but it's surprising how similar this list is to mine.

[tisiphone]

Right, so for these purposes we can take my profession as "writing reports about business and economics" (and other things, but that's immaterial). I start with

[rmd]

"What is the problem you are trying to solve?"

[mangosteen]

Aye. Followed by repeated asking of that question until they figure it out.

[pierceheart]

Step 1. Analyze the higher headquarters plan or order
Step 2. Perform initial intelligence preparation of the battlefield
Step 3. Determine specified, implied, and essential tasks
Step 4. Review available assets and identify resource shortfalls
Step 5. Determine constraints
Step 6. Identify critical facts and develop assumptions
Step 7. Begin composite risk management
Step 8. Determine initial commander’s critical information requirements and essential elements of friendly information
Step 9. Develop initial ISR synchronization plan
Step 10. Develop initial ISR plan
Step 11. Update plan for the use of available time
Step 12. Develop initial information themes and messages
Step 13. Develop a proposed mission statement
Step 14. Present the mission analysis briefing
Step 15. Develop and issue initial commander’s intent
Step 16. Develop and issue initial planning guidance
Step 17. Develop COA evaluation criteria
Step 18. Issue a warning order

[pierceheart]

All of which is step 2 of this:

1. Receipt of Mission
2. Mission Analysis
3. Course of action (COA) Development
4. COA Analysis (aka Wargaming)
5. COA Comparison
6. COA Approval
7. Orders Production, Dissemination, and Transition