Tracking Discussions

MNHRPRO

Do you have a mechanism for tracking discussions you have with managers and employees that don't necessarily lead to an incident? On any given day, I can have several conversations that include information that I may want to retain for future reference should something arise but it doesn't rise to the level of needing to fill out an incident report (I use a form for things like this that show who was involved, when it happened, what happened, the investigation process and what we did). I just need something for the ad hoc meetings that arise on an almost daily basis. I'm not sure a notebook works because it may be hard to find things. Your thoughts?

Thanks for your help!

dixied

I have managers use an Excel spreadsheet that I made. They have one for each of their employees to document the good and bad situations that occur during the year. They can't remember back for 12 months when it comes to completing performance reviews. Something similar may work for you.

joannie

Our managers document on the back of the ee calendar. For my discussion w/ managers, I do a brief "Note to File" in Word and save in folder by topic.

Elizabetharess

I use Outlook notes.

Paul in Cannon Beach

I dont document those conversations to the degree you are talking about. I do have a "documentation" file in MS Word and I will type up and file pertinent conversations there.

Xcel is a spreadsheet program but it can be useful for a variety of documentation.

Access is a database but it also is very flexible. I created our personnel database in Access and also use it to track our applicants.

I could imagine creating a MS Word Template that would have certain fields that you could quickly complete and then file. That might be one way.

I could create it for you but you wont believe what I charge.

allsteaks

Doesn't anyone use a day planner anymore? I don't but that's where I used to note the casual, unofficial conversations you're talking about. It was good too because you had the date and time it took place. On the other hand, you had to back track through pages of dates to find it too! Now I just put it on a post it and wait for it to get lost!!

AnneHa

A few of our supervisors send a follow-up email to the employee recapping what was discussed during the 'conversation'. This provides dates and acknowledgement that the ee was made aware of the situation.

Anne in Ohio

Lisa In Iowa

After many of those conversations, I often draft a quick e-mail to myself, detailing the facts of the conversation, specifically what the manager explained, and then what each of us said. I then have a folder for each of the managers that I work with, and I file the e-mail under the foleder of the particular manager that I talked with. If a situation arises, I simply go to the folder to see if I have any previous notes about the situation. I also do the same with my staff, and I have a folder for each of them, too.