Consulting Journal: Resources

Resources: Diary

by David Blakey

Is it enough to keep your appointments on your phone?

[Monday 8 March 2004]

I shall use the word diary throughout this article to mean appointments book. I know that the original meaning of diary is a daily record, which is made after each day rather than before it, but its new meaning is now entrenched. Also, it is easier to say diary than appointments book. And a diary need not necessarily be an actual book, anyway.

We have a variety of tools that we can use to record our appointments.

The tools

Appointment books

There is the traditional desk diary. This is hard-bound, usually with a single day on each page. It has the advantage of providing a permanent record of appointments. For any given appointment, you can add when it actually started and ended and who was present. You might even list the main discussion points.

For someone who needs to keep a permanent record of their appointments, the desk diary is probably still the best method of doing so. If you're freelance, ask a lawyer if you should keep a permanent record. If you're employed, and your firm offers desk diaries each year, then assume that you should keep a permanent record and put your name on the list for a desk diary.

Paper organizers

Provided that you keep all the pages, then a loose-leaf organizer with printed diary sheets can be almost as good a permanent record as a desk diary. There is a possibility that an unscrupulous person could replace a single sheet. They would be unlikely to reproduce an entire bound desk diary.

If you need to keep a permanent record of your appointments, but you do not need the hard evidence of a bound desk diary, then a loose-leaf organizer may work for you.

Software

You can use computer software to schedule your appointments. Software usually saves data, and the data can be printed or archived. In some ways, diary software is better than paper-based systems, as it can provide multiple copies. Provided that copies and backups have been taken, they can be used to rebuild the data if the original is destroyed.

Electronic organizers and telephones

I draw a line between diary software and other electronic devices. The line divides those which can create new copies from those which can not. So, if an electronic device can create copies, either by attaching to another external or by connecting to a computer, then it sits on the same side of the line as appointments software. If an electronic device cannot create copies, then it sits on the other side of the line.

The need

Consultants should be able to produce all their appointments schedules for past years.

This can be done with:

diary books, by saving them;
paper organizers, by saving their pages, often in their own binders; and
software, by making copies and saving them.

It cannot be done with devices that cannot save the data.

This can be important. Management consultants often deal with investment issues. Even if they are not acting as investment advisers, in the strict definition, they may still be subject to the laws and regulations that apply to investment advisers. In my view, it is better to be safe than sorry. If management consultants attempt to conform with investment regulations then they are unlikely to have problems if they are faced with litigation under those regulations. In many countries, these regulations require the keeping of diaries.

For further information, check on your local requirements for investment advisers and financial services. Consider whether your consulting assignments ever involve you in advising your clients in ways that fall under the regulations or in advising clients who are registered investment advisers.

The method

I do record important appointments on my mobile telphone. The telephone beeps to remind me of these appointments. If I have a meeting with a client at ten o'clock, and it takes me half an hour to get there, I may set a reminder to beep at eighty-thirty or at nine. This gives me enough time to collect everything I need to take and to get to my meeting.

My phone is not my main method of recording my appointments. All my appointments are written in a loose-leaf diary. I store the pages of each year in the storage boxes that each year's pages are delivered in. I have a permanent record as well as means of being reminded of appointments.

I recommend this approach to all consultants. Use devices such as phones to help you manage your time, but always have a separate record, on paper or in a computer.

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