Every Monday, every client gets the same page. Three headings. Usually under a hundred words.
WHAT IS RUNNING Which agents are live, where, since when
WHAT IT DID Counts and rupees from last week, nothing else
WHAT WE NEED The one decision or piece of data we are waiting on, with a name and a dayIt was borrowed from how a good CA briefs a promoter. Not a presentation. A note that assumes you are busy, that you can check the numbers, and that you will act on the last line.
Why three lines
What is running is the only honest measure of an implementation firm. A feature on a roadmap is a promise. An agent with a date next to it is a fact. If something stops running, it comes off the list that Monday, and you see it.
What it did keeps us from describing capability. The brief says 412 verified visits, not “improved sales visibility”. If the number is bad, it is in the brief. That is the point.
What we need is the line that moves the project. Most implementations stall on a decision nobody was asked to make. The brief asks, names the person, and gives the day.
What it is not
It is not a dashboard. Dashboards are looked at on the day they are installed and then on the day something goes wrong. A message on Monday morning is read.
It is not a meeting. If the brief needs a meeting, the last line says so.
The same format is on our compliment slips and our notepads, so that when a promoter picks one up he is reminded of what we owe him this week.