Submitted by jonno12131 on
in
Forums
Hi MT folk,
I was wondering if anyone has added anything interesting to their delta files recently. A reminder, that is the list of behaviours you encounter in the workplace that you promise never to do yourself, or at least do differently.
A few new ones for me this month in no particular order.
I WILL NEVER...
> Ignore an escalation regarding my DR's action/inaction.
> Escalate an issue to a Line Manager without first speaking to the 'offending' DR to get their side of the story/interpretation of events.
> Talk non-stop for five minutes in a meeting without checking that people are following my dialogue, are interested in what I'm saying, agree with me, or understand what I am talking about.
> Go into a DR's 1-2-1 empty handed, i.e. without notes/actions from previous 1-2-1.
> Agree to unreasonable deadlines if it puts my team under undue pressure.
> Arrive late to a meeting and apologise loudly over the voice of someone who is speaking at the time.
> Forward a large or complex email thread to someone just entering the conversation without summarising what is going on and what is needed form them.
> Start a meeting by diving straight into detailed subject matter when half the people don't know each other, nor the context or objectives of the meeting.
> Arrange a meeting with no agenda (see above!)
It's all in my head....
I've been meaning to start a Delta file, but have only ever visualised it in my head. It's nice to see another's POV in writing. Love these by the way!
One of the reasons I kept putting it off was the fear of a Delta file being found by the manager (who has a habit of going through the others' desks in their absence, making loud derogatory comments about lack of filing, organisation etc and messing it all up). ... oh look, there's something for my Delta file already ;)
So I'm reluctant to have a hard file somewhere..... maybe I'll start an electronic copy and save it in my personal drive (or better yet on Evernote).
Alternatively, I could make the Delta File a positive interpretation keeping notes of the opposite of what happened (instead of "I will never....", "I will.....") - won't be as incriminating if found either.
Thanks for the post and the motivation to get started. I've definitely decided to keep my Delta file in Evernote ;)
Cheers.
Thank you!
I have been a Manager Tools listener for a few years now and have not started my delta file, until today!
Thank you for the prompt to start this and some great ideas of things to add to start with.
Jane
Got one which gives plenty of food for thought
Event: unpublicized physical move of teams to consolidate project teams and cluster colleagues
Fail: reveal the move to everyone involved at Friday 4:45pm with a spammy email saying "you move at 7am Monday" -- while the bulk of folks work 8-4
Insult to injury: follow up at 8:30am Monday with "whoa hold on" (sic) when managers come piling in asking why they cannot find someone who has actually moved
Instead: talk up the intent to move a month ahead *through your managers*, verify availability and ongoing projects, introduce coordinator to teams, finalize the move plans with major synchronization point being "top manager alerts everyone about move daily for a week", publish overall picture of move to all participants and other affected folks, schedule it as an intentional event.