On Daybooks

TimelessTime consultants have represented many firms at tribunal. We’ve supported principals and managers in cases when the firm was in the right but the plaintiff employee got the upper hand simply because of procedural errors on the part of managers in the firm.
There’s often one simple cause – principals and managers don’t write things down. They don’t document the various discussions with employees. They don’t prepare for meetings and document what they hope to achieve, then don’t document what they actually said and what was actually done.

If we could change anything about how managers deal with employees it would be one thing: that all managers use daybooks. A day book is a hard-backed book in which the manager makes note of everything he or she does during each day; every discussion, every phone call, every doodle or scribble whilst thinking. Then when asked to recall what happened, it’s all there.
We’ve seen some who are masters at the art of day-books. And we’ve seen many who are just adequate. However you aspire to use day-books, here are some useful tips.

• Use a thick, hard-backed book of quality paper. Don’t use loose leaf.
• Number and date your day-books. You’ll likely use several per year.
• Date each entry. Some folk number each entry sequentially.
• Just capture the key points. Do drawings.
• Keep a glue stick handy and paste in any papers of external origin.
• Be free about what you log in the book. It’s your book. You set the format.
• If your day precludes a day-book, keep a small daybook/jotter and transfer pages.

The day-book comes into its own when looking back over events. How many times did you talk to Joanne about coming in late? When was it that you discussed training with Bill? And did you really promise Sash a pay rise at the meeting on the 3rd June?
Once you start, you’ll realise you can never be without your day-book – however much you might love your laptop, there’s no substitute for the pen and paper when it comes to capturing your day to day activities.

A little about the author

Sue Berry TimelessTime

Sue is founder Director of TimelessTime. Having gained HR experience in most business sectors and headed up HR in three very different business sectors, she is able to draw on this experience and provide clients with a bespoke service offering them the best solution for their own unique problems. She is a qualified trainer, job analyst, and is Level A and B qualified occupational psychology test user able to administer and interpret both personality and ability tests.

Sue has a BEd(Hons) in sociology, she holds a Masters degree in Human Resource Management and is Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.  Her current research studies are in psychology and economics.