I used to just nod and take notes in meetings, now I ask one clear question

For years, I'd sit in client meetings and just write down what they said, which led to me guessing what they really needed. After a job in Toledo where I had to redo a whole brake system because I misunderstood, I changed my method. Now, before any meeting ends, I ask one thing: 'Just so I'm clear, the main thing you need fixed is X, right?' This simple check has saved me hours of wasted work and a few angry calls. What's one question you make sure to ask before starting a project?

3 comments

3 Comments

diana_carr6610d ago

Hold up, you ask that at the end of the meeting? I started asking my version of that right at the start. Found out the hard way that sometimes the client's "main thing" changes halfway through the chat. So now I open with, "Walk me through what's broken from your point of view." Lets them talk first, then I repeat it back early on. Catching a shift in what they want early saves more rework than confirming it later, doesn't it?

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willowg8810d ago

My old boss would hate this. You're right.

leo_black7610d ago

Had a boss like that once, always wanted the answer before we even knew the question. The way you open the chat by asking what's broken first is smart. It stops you from building the whole thing on a guess. I wasted a whole month once because we never checked if the goal was still the same. Your method just makes the work real from the start.