The Eastern Way: Fundamental #14 – Document everything

This fundamental was written by William Chong, who has worked at Eastern Funding for over 4 years in the finance department as an assistant controller.

Fundamental #14: Document everything – Since information is the lifeblood of our business, we must be great at sharing it across people, departments, and functions. Document everything you do and everything you know so that others have access to the information necessary for success. Save it or lose it.

As a college student, I learned to take good notes. This helped make studying effective, not just for myself, but also for fellow classmates. Nothing was better than coming together at a library or lounge in the college with classmates to share notes and prepare for an exam.

When I came to Eastern Funding I was given a task to learn how to process loans within our loan application system. With little training at the time, it was overwhelming. However, I used note taking to achieve that task. As a result of documenting my notes, I was able to create an instruction manual on how to use the system.

Now that I have a manual, I refer to it to answer questions and respond to inquiries my colleagues make. In addition, that manual has led me to become even more effective at month end, reconciling general ledger accounts and other reports.

Even personally, documenting plays an important role in my life as a new parent. My wife and I keep a daily feeding schedule for the babies. This feeding schedule tells their caregivers when their last feeding was, how much was fed and when the babies last “went.” Why is a feeding schedule so important to our babies and their caregivers? When the caregivers switch shifts they refer to the feeding schedule and know not to over or under feed our babies.

Documenting everything and sharing that information will help others with their daily responsibilities. Let’s make the effort to take good notes, “so that others have access to the information necessary for success.”

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post.

Next up is Brian Werbeck on Fundamental #15 – Be organized.

Regards,
William