Communication System examples

[Stephanie]

I'm new to GTD but enjoying the process so far. I must be overthinking one step as I haven't found the suggested processing or come up with a good solution.

For information that come via various sources that I need to share with others (spouse, child, parent, coworker, friend, etc) what are some 'Communication System' examples (I think that's where these would fall). There really isn't a next step, just info to pass on to that person when I see them next.

...Besides a post it note for each person - because that's not working well.

Paper or digital suggestions both welcome although I don't always have paper with me but usually have my phone of course.
thanks!

Updated...I should've mentioned that the other 2 in my family are lucky & don't use email much. I could send it to them and try to change that though!

 

[Nate]

Add a reference or link to the artlcle/information to your agenda list for the respective person. Save the article or a link to it in a reference file.

 

[mcogilvie]

I'm new to GTD but enjoying the process so far. I must be overthinking one step as I haven't found the suggested processing or come up with a good solution.

For information that come via various sources that I need to share with others (spouse, child, parent, coworker, friend, etc) what are some 'Communication System' examples (I think that's where these would fall). There really isn't a next step, just info to pass on to that person when I see them next.

...Besides a post it note for each person - because that's not working well.

Paper or digital suggestions both welcome although I don't always have paper with me but usually have my phone of course.
thanks!

I generally use email if possible, with everybody I can. Friends, colleagues, spouse- the volume is too high for anything else. Texts are generally confined to family and convey snippets of information. Phone calls are for immediate issues requiring discussion (or very happy or very bad news). Face-to-face items go on an agenda list, which is digital. But I think the key here is that passing on the information is a next action. If I can't do it now in two minutes or less, and isn't its own reminder (often the case with email), then it goes on a list.

 

[Oogiem]

I use e-mail for a lot of things for my husband. We both work at home and our desks face each other and yet we've been known to e-mail things even when we are both right there because then it doesn't interrupt the other person. E-mail can be processed by the receiver at their leisure. If it's absolutely critical I will speak up. Paper stuff goes into his inbox. We share a bunch of magazines and they usually go to his inbox first. I have a separate inbox for things coming back from him because it just works out better to corral my reading that way.

I will also put post-it notes on his chair or keyboard if he's in another part of the farm and it's something I think needs more immediate attention. He does that to me to and it works well. We have a shared partition on our main server and I can put electronic stuff up there and send him a quick e-mail as to its location and why I wanted him to see it.

For other folks I have a context in a folder Agendas and I'll put a quick action there of the location of information I need to pass on. When I see that person I check the agenda and give them the info.

 

[Stephanie]

Add a reference or link to the artlcle/information to your agenda list for the respective person. Save the article or a link to it in a reference file.

I've seen the phrase "agenda list" on the forums and in the materials, however I guess I need to see some physical examples or a better description of what exactly that is to look like. Could you post a pix or add a link to more info or examples on Agenda Lists?

 

[Stephanie]

I generally use email if possible, with everybody I can. Friends, colleagues, spouse- the volume is too high for anything else. Texts are generally confined to family and convey snippets of information. Phone calls are for immediate issues requiring discussion (or very happy or very bad news). Face-to-face items go on an agenda list, which is digital. But I think the key here is that passing on the information is a next action. If I can't do it now in two minutes or less, and isn't its own reminder (often the case with email), then it goes on a list.

You are so right! I guess I hadn't thought of 'passing on the info' as a Next Action. That helps a lot and probably what I wasn't connecting.

Do you mind me asking what program or app you use for your digital Agenda List? I had created a folder in my email for each family member & coworker and move emails into the respective folder...then I'd forget to look in the folders next time I was with them. It also didn't include other sources (paper, texts, phone calls/messages, etc) of info that needed to be passed to them.

 

[mcogilvie]

You are so right! I guess I hadn't thought of 'passing on the info' as a Next Action. That helps a lot and probably what I wasn't connecting.

Do you mind me asking what program or app you use for your digital Agenda List? I had created a folder in my email for each family member & coworker and move emails into the respective folder...then I'd forget to look in the folders next time I was with them. It also didn't include other sources (paper, texts, phone calls/messages, etc) of info that needed to be passed to them.

I have an all-apple environment, and I fluctuate between Things and Omnifocus. They both have quick entry and clipping features that speed up input a bit.

 

[Jodie E. Francis]

The problem with an email folder is that the items aren't likely fully processed, the way an action list is. So it is less useful (requires you to re-think items each time you look at it).

My approach is very similar to Oogie's wrt my husband - paper inbox (I initial to say I've already read it), email if not urgent, text if urgent, and calendar invitations for longer discussions we have to have (during the 'meeting' I will then go through my @discuss list)...

Example items in my Todoist @discuss list:

Daughter1 - what will she wear to grad? MIC
(with link to a Gmail item in my Action Support folder, a coupon I just received for a dress shop)
Daughter2 - plan the craft for her sleepover/party MIC
(with links to some ideas I found online and a note that there is a catalogue in my AS paper folder
Husband - how much of a down payment will we put on the Highlander?
(for the 'Buy new car' project I have a separate paper file)
Husband - should I take daughter2 for an orthodontic consult? purse
(my purse notebook has my notes from her dentist appt last week)

((MIC is my short form to say there is More information In the Comments field. I use this in my calendar as well.))

 

[Oogiem]

I've seen the phrase "agenda list" on the forums and in the materials, however I guess I need to see some physical examples or a better description of what exactly that is to look like. Could you post a pix or add a link to more info or examples on Agenda Lists?

I use Omnifocus for my lists and DEVONThink for support material

In OF I have a context for each person that I keep an agenda list for. I use that for actions that I am expecting them to do or that require them for completion. Sometimes the action is something simple like Vet apt Wednesday - see DT for notes. Then in DT I will have a note in my Action Support folder that says Veterinarian Visit and within it are all the bits of info or things I need to check with her like, recheck Sofia's legs, dog shots, talk about ram lamb crooked legs causes and treatments, give her the info on the new wormer from UK I found, order PMSG for ewe synchronization and so on.

 

[Stephanie]

The problem with an email folder is that the items aren't likely fully processed, the way an action list is. So it is less useful (requires you to re-think items each time you look at it).

My approach is very similar to Oogie's wrt my husband - paper inbox (I initial to say I've already read it), email if not urgent, text if urgent, and calendar invitations for longer discussions we have to have (during the 'meeting' I will then go through my @discuss list)...

Example items in my Todoist @discuss list:

Daughter1 - what will she wear to grad? MIC
(with link to a Gmail item in my Action Support folder, a coupon I just received for a dress shop)
Daughter2 - plan the craft for her sleepover/party MIC
(with links to some ideas I found online and a note that there is a catalogue in my AS paper folder
Husband - how much of a down payment will we put on the Highlander?
(for the 'Buy new car' project I have a separate paper file)
Husband - should I take daughter2 for an orthodontic consult? purse
(my purse notebook has my notes from her dentist appt last week)

((MIC is my short form to say there is More information In the Comments field. I use this in my calendar as well.))

Thank you for those great examples! And the MIC idea too. And that is a good point that the emails aren't fully processed and rethinking when look at it. That will help me for sure.

 

[bcmyers2112]

@Stephanie Shields, the agendas list in its simplest form can be a list with the name of the person you need to talk with as the subject, and the discussion items in the notes below. If you're using a paper planner this could be accomplished by writing the name of the person at the top of the sheet and the agenda items below. If you're using a digital tool you could input the person's name in the task or subject field of the list item and then (if the software allows it) list the discussion items in the notes field.

You can also create a context for a particular person, with each discussion item as a separate entry. I wouldn't suggest doing that for everyone you talk with regularly but it may be useful if there's a particular person you have to talk with often.

If I am going to communicate with someone by email, by text, or with a voicemail, I then make an entry in my Waiting For list instead with the person's name, the thing that I'm waiting for from them, and the date of the handoff. So for example a voicemail I leave for someone may result in the following entry in that list: Joe Blow - return my call re blah-blah - 6/6.

Regarding the broader discussion about how best to communicate with people about things you want/need, I agree in principle that email is usually best but you have to tailor things to the individuals with whom you interface. I work for a small company where a lot of people are terrible at managing their email. Emails to my boss in particular usually go into a black hole. So more often than not if I need his input about something it's best to add it to my agendas list for him and catch him in the hallway or schedule some time with him via Outlook. It's not ideal but the nice thing about GTD is that it lets me easily and gracefully navigate the "not ideal" so I can derive the best from the situation (and as quirky as my current employer is, it's a good situation for me and it's worth deriving all of the good it can bring to me).

 

[Suelin23]

My family all has iPhones and we have family sharing turned on. So I've created some notes on the phone using the default Notes app and shared them with the others. Lists like holiday ideas and the weekly meal plan. When I update them it updates their note too.