Itâs all in the label.
The first meeting we had to discuss our document was actually quite funny. The three of us were all new to the organisation and working together on a new project. Each of us brought a different version of the âsameâ document to our meeting. When we were talking about, analysing and evaluating different sections of the document it became clear that we were not all looking at the same thing. It was funny in that the conversations we were having were confusing and a bit nonsensical until we realised what was going on.
We laughed and then agreed a common labelling scheme to keep things straight. We were a small team in a small organisation. We did not have (and could not afford) a fancy document management system to help us control this for us. So off we went to fix our errors and meet again another day.
Meeting number two started off better, but became a bit unhinged when it turned out we were all still working off different versions. How could this happen? We were all using the same labelling scheme! Well, apparently we werenât. Old habits die hard. Someone, somewhere (and we didnât want to point fingers) had reverted to their old practises and then somehow (too late in this case) re-labelled it correctly right before our meeting. This time there were forced chuckles and a stern agreement to be diligent and consistent!
In the third meeting there were clenched jaws and red faces. This was no longer a laughing matter.
It was actually quite ridiculous that we were a team of three internal resources, and we couldnât get it right. Imagine a larger team made up of people from across the organisation from several departments and possibly external suppliers.
Configuration Management. Not only can it save time, aid in efficiency, allow for control and enhance reporting, it can save relationships!
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