While attending Florida Southern College, I took an evening class titled “Industrial Psychology.” The teacher was a retired Vice President of Human Resources for a major international manufacturer of heavy equipment. On the first day of school he walked into the room, went to the blackboard and wrote “CYA” in big letters. Then he told us that if we didn’t learn anything else in his class, we would learn what CYA meant.
He went on to explain that in the real world of business this is one of the most important and basic rules for success and survival. Whether you are in a positive or negative position, using CYA gave you an edge over your competition. In all business areas you needed CYA or Cover Your Ass.
Every class after that, I would write CYA on the board and leave it that way for the entire period. He would later teach the fundamentals of industrial psychology while he weaved together his own personal experiences. Throughout the class, he would refer to the board and ask, “How can you apply CYA to this situation?”
When broken down, CYA involves two processes.
- Documentation
- Follow, continue
Documentation
Documentation is just “putting it in writing”. Whether it is a communication or an event, write down what was said and/or what happened. Too often, not remembering exactly what happened or what was said results in a totally different result than you expected.
In a conversation, what one party heard may not be what the other said. Often the conversation takes place in a noisy or busy area with many distractions. Other times, the conversation takes place while one or both parties are in a hurry and no real communication occurs.
To help avoid misunderstandings, take notes during the conversation, or as soon as possible after the conversation, write down what was said. I have always carried a small notepad in my pocket to jot down rote notes to be used later to help retain or recap the conversation. Often when I have a few minutes, I email the other party a note summarizing the conversation. This will also serve as a record that we had the conversation.
Sometimes I have kept a business journal or a record of my daily activities. This is a great tool for taking notes on the day’s events and important communications. Several months later, if you have an event to review, you’ll be glad to have this information documented.
Another good habit to adopt is to keep all correspondences in a file. You never know when you may need it. This is one of the best things about email. It is a written record and easy to keep.
Follow, continue
One of the lines I hate to hear from one of my managers is, “I figured…” I was taught very early in my business career the old adage that when you assume, you make an “ass out of me.” And I get very angry when it happens to me. This can easily be avoided by simply learning to keep track of the events you are involved in.
If you do a task, don’t assume it will get done, follow it up.
If you have assignments, don’t assume you’ve done them correctly, follow up.
If you are involved in communication with another person, don’t assume there is an understanding of what was said, follow up.
If you do do something, take the time to follow up and make sure it was done correctly. This extra step in your workflow can eliminate many wasted steps down the road.
If you write it, you correct it, another form of follow-up. Years ago I asked my assistant to write a letter to the VP of Operations at the company he worked for telling him about the production record our second shift crew broke the night before. She typed it up and brought it to me to sign and I did.
Several days later I received a call from the vice president asking if I had read the letter I had signed before sending it. I learned a great lesson about following up that day. I pulled out my copy of the letter and read where she wrote: “Second Shift set a new production standard for operations.” The problem was that he had left the “f” out of turn. Needless to say, I now read what I sign.
It might sound like you’re being paranoid by keeping all these notes and constantly checking up on people, but you’re not. It is a valuable tool to help you become a better leader and manager. It will help you assess your past performance and help you plan for future improvements. By applying CYA in all areas of your work you will reap the benefits.
So every day “Cover your ass.”