How to document a performance conversation that holds up

Most performance interactions aren’t recorded. The ones that are usually get written up days later,
from memory, once something has already gone wrong. By then the record is doing damage control instead of
telling the truth. A good record is captured early, briefly, and as a matter of course, long before anyone
needs it.

Capture it at the time, not after

The single biggest factor in whether a record holds up is when it was made. A note written the same day,
while it’s fresh, reads as truth. A note written weeks later, after a dispute starts, reads as a
defence. Capture interactions as they happen, not when you need them.

What to write down

• What was discussed, plainly and without spin.
• What was agreed, and by when.
• Any support offered.
• The date.

Keep it factual and specific. “Spoke to Sam about lateness, agreed to start at 6am from Monday, offered
a roster change” is worth more than a page of impressions.

What to leave out

Opinion, diagnosis and emotion weaken a record. Stick to what happened and what was agreed. You’re not
building a case, you’re keeping an accurate account. The irony is that the more neutral and factual the
record, the more powerfully it protects you if it’s ever needed.

Make it routine, not exceptional

A record that only appears when there’s a problem looks like targeting. A record that exists for every
interaction, good and difficult alike, looks like normal practice, because it is. Consistency is what makes
any single record credible.

Where Note It fits

Note It gives leaders one simple place to capture interactions as they happen, in the flow of the day. Good
data in, good data out. The record forms itself, so when it matters, you’re not reconstructing anything.