Using a Checklist
When faced with a new and significant professional challenge such as creating and negotiating an IT outsourcing contract for a critical service, or selling a key business operation there are a myriad of issues to deal with. Many of these will be fundamental to the success of the transaction. As experienced professionals it is easy to assume we will naturally recognise all of these and deal with them. However, the reality is that under extreme time and client pressure it is relatively easy to miss something with potentially dire consequences.
This is where checklists are incredibly useful as aide memoirs to make sure nothing is forgotten or overlooked. See my Thoughts of the Week blog Use a Checklist which starts with the following observation:
American pilots landing complicated jet planes with all sThoughts of the Weekorts of electronic systems on aircraft carriers reputedly have one simple check on a yellow sticky note stuck in front of them in the cockpit. It says: “Put the landing gear down”.
This is because there was a history of this crucial step being forgotten amidst all the other complexities of landing a fast-moving jet on a carrier that is also moving. These are amongst the best trained professionals on the planet, but if they can still get it wrong then so can we lesser mortals. In fact in aviation checklists are a way of life. I recall travelling in a Cessna plane from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. I was in the copilots seat for some reason and had to help go thought the preflight checklist.
See this quote from the American surgeon and writer Atul Gawande who wrote the book The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right. “Good checklists, on the other hand, are precise. They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try to spell out everything—a checklist cannot fly a plane. Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps—the ones that even the highly skilled professionals using them could miss. Good checklists are, above all, practical.”
Here is a useful AI summary of the uses and benefits of a checklist.
I therefore advocate using an appropriate checklist for professional transactions more generally setting out right at the start the key matters that will need to be dealt with in a transaction. This also helps to plan the work required and to allocate the appropriate resources.
I can help by developing a tailored checklist for your transaction whether it is an outsourcing contract or a corporate deal. This would be based on standard templates I use but adapted to meet your specific requirements.
This is where checklists are incredibly useful as aide memoirs to make sure nothing is forgotten or overlooked. See my Thoughts of the Week blog Use a Checklist which starts with the following observation:
American pilots landing complicated jet planes with all sThoughts of the Weekorts of electronic systems on aircraft carriers reputedly have one simple check on a yellow sticky note stuck in front of them in the cockpit. It says: “Put the landing gear down”.
This is because there was a history of this crucial step being forgotten amidst all the other complexities of landing a fast-moving jet on a carrier that is also moving. These are amongst the best trained professionals on the planet, but if they can still get it wrong then so can we lesser mortals. In fact in aviation checklists are a way of life. I recall travelling in a Cessna plane from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. I was in the copilots seat for some reason and had to help go thought the preflight checklist.
See this quote from the American surgeon and writer Atul Gawande who wrote the book The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right. “Good checklists, on the other hand, are precise. They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try to spell out everything—a checklist cannot fly a plane. Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps—the ones that even the highly skilled professionals using them could miss. Good checklists are, above all, practical.”
Here is a useful AI summary of the uses and benefits of a checklist.
- Ensuring tasks are completed
- Improving consistency
- Improving focus and productivity
- Promoting self-regulation
- Assessing learning
- Assessing a client's role.
I therefore advocate using an appropriate checklist for professional transactions more generally setting out right at the start the key matters that will need to be dealt with in a transaction. This also helps to plan the work required and to allocate the appropriate resources.
I can help by developing a tailored checklist for your transaction whether it is an outsourcing contract or a corporate deal. This would be based on standard templates I use but adapted to meet your specific requirements.
