Closeout Notes - Good vs BAd
My practice is to compose the notes DURING while you are on the job as you go along, not at the end. Even at the end of the job, you should be billing them for your time while writing closing notes. So it's not a waste of time.
I suggest you always create detailed notes. Even if it's a small / simple job. Even if it's a CANCELLED job. The people you work with will appreciate it and over time they will come to expect it from you, as you project a minimum standard of consistency and professionality that they will look forward to. The opposite effect, if you have bad closing notes, is that you don't get as many work orders or worse a buyer bans you due to poor quality deliverables.
For me the important facts are WHO did you interact with, WHAT did they say? These people are the alibis for everything that happens on the job, and the buyer can contact them to corroborate anything that I wrote.
FN keeps track of important time stamps such as time arrived, time started, etc... So I don't feel the need to mention those in my notes, UNLESS it's relevant to a problem or it clarifies why there was a delay.
For example...
Bad notes: "Customer not available."
Good notes: "Attempted to call ahead to the property to let them know I am 30 minutes away. But there was no answer at the management office. Left a voicemail for Taylor. Arrived on site and again attempted to call management but there was no answer. Attempted to dial management from the dial pad at the front entrance, no answer. Provided the update to Jordan and Solomon at XXXXXXX. Taylor texted me that he is out of town, sent the number for Scott XXXXXXX. Called Scott, he says he is 15 mins away. He can locate the replacement parts but another management team member has the panel lock keys and he is out of town. I confirmed for Scott that we need the panel lock keys. He says we will need to reschedule the dispatch to obtain more time to get the keys. Scott asks that XXXXXXX call him to follow up regarding the reschedule - (XXX)-XXX-XXXX. Provided the update to Solomon at XXXXXX, received clearance to check out."
Bad notes: "There were issues and delays and we could not complete all repairs after the work order time was overrun."
Good notes: "Arrived around 3pm and spoke with Rocio at the front desk. She provided the replacement parts package and explained the issues. Contacted Help Desk but there was a 14 min wait time. Spoke with Raven to check in at 3:25. Completed repair of latch on locker 45. Locker 28 needs hinge adjusted. Contacted help desk again and spoke with Ed around 3:45. He provided guidance on removing the hinge, adjusting the torx screw and replacing the hinge. Hinge has been removed and corrected. Attempted to re-install the hinge but the provided rivets are not the correct size. According to work order we need rivets of 1/8 diameter. These rivets are much larger, probably 1/4. I have some spare rivets in my assortment but not enough for locker # 28. The hinge has been re-attached to the locker but not secure - need 3 more rivets. Attempted to contact help desk multiple times but there have been several call drops during while waiting on hold. Requested call back around 4:40. Added a notification to the work order at 2 hour mark. Customer's staff has left for the day, closed their office without notifying me. Attempted several more times to contact help desk but there is a hold for a few minutes before the call is disconnected. Added a problem notification to the work order around 5:15. At 5:26 I spoke with Angel at Help Desk and provided the update. Service availability of repaired lockers has been updated. He says that 3/16 diameter rivets will be needed for locker # 28 hinge and he will schedule a revisit. Replacement parts box has been placed inside the screen compartment. Received permission to check out without staff signature."
Bad notes: "Replacement part not available, unable to complete."
Good notes: "Contacted XXXXX about 1 hour prior to start time and spoke with Julio, request to confirm replacement Access Point and lift have arrived. Julio was not able to confirm tracking information for parts delivery. He says I should continue to proceed as scheduled and ask the on site contact about the parts when I arrive. Arrived at site around 15 minutes prior to start at 4:45 and contacted XXXXX to check in at 4:52. Spoke with store manager Damares. She has not been able to confirm new AP delivery. Contacted XXXXXX and again spoke with Julio around 5:00. He attempted to confirm parts delivery but was not yet successful, there is a delay with receiving a reaponse from the team. He says that I should not wait for confirmation and to proceed to check out of site without starting the work. Provided the update to Damares. Obtained clearance to check out without starting the work at 5:05. Contacted XXXXXX to check out, received check out confirmation at 5:32. Completed deliverables upload to vendor site at 5:53 to leave site."
Bad notes: "Completed successfully."
Good notes: "Met with the POC Michael XXXXXXX, he escorted me into the data center and assisted with locating the equipment and replacement parts. Datacenter staff assisted with locating carts and power strips for work space. We established a WebEx conference with Pradeep from tech support. We verified the serial number of the system to be serviced as XXXXXXXXXX. Once the controller was shut down I was permitted to proceed with the memory module swap. Old DIMM modules have been placed into the same box as the new modules, taped, labeled and will be dropped off at FedEx. After the swap the controller was returned to normal service. Pradeep and Mike confirmed server health good. Returned all datacenter work space equipment to staff. Called XXXXXXX dispatch to provide the update and checked out."