“I would say, if you are never really wrong, you are never really right either, you need to put things down (on paper) to get clarity, to move work forward and make things happen.”
- Adrienne Bellehumeur
Getting good at effective documentation isn’t easy. Whether because we find it hard to take notes while actively listening or we are afraid of losing face in a room full of people who aren’t taking notes. So much valuable information is lost, miscommunicated or inaccessible as it exists only in one person's head.
So much of our value is tied to the things we think we do best. It is hard to let go of that mentality and create documents that allow for excellent reperformance. For as long as your bookkeeping business is only successful because you are doing everything, you will never be able to leverage your knowledge to scale your business to new heights.
This episode's featured guest is Adrienne Bellehumeur who is the director of Risk Oversight, a documentation and productivity expert and author of The 24-Hour Rule. She has spent her career developing a system of dynamic documentation that helps people overcome their optimism bias (the belief we will remember every detail of every meeting) to take effective documentation that allows for near-perfect reperformance of their work.
If you are worried that you won’t be as valuable if everyone has a playbook of your best skills or embarrassed to take notes for fear of looking ‘less than’ your colleagues then this is the episode to completely change your point of view on the importance of effective documentation and the powerful role it can play in the success of your bookkeeping business. So, grab a pen or get your laptop ready to type because it's time to take some notes!
During this interview, you'll learn...
- The value of organization & information management in successful businesses
- How to solve problems with effective documentation
- The importance of overcoming our optimism bias
Click here to find out more about Adrienne.
Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Click this link to learn more about Risk Oversight.
Visit here to buy her new book, The 24 Hour Rule.
Time Stamps
1:37 - Adrienne talks about her career journey
3:31 - Discovering the hidden power of documentation
6:13 - Overcoming optimism bias
7:56 - Simple practices for effective outcomes
12:55 - The most efficient ways to document
15:05 - Problem-solving with documentation
18:50 - The challenges in effective documentation
23:08 - Information management and organization
26:56 - Writing The 24 Hour Rule
30:43 - Acting on information before the value is lost
33:40 - Connecting with Adrienne
