G-PP-AA: Five questions to ask at every business meeting you ever attend

[Reviewed 2015-04-26] It’s been my impression that many business-contract disputes could be avoided if the participants would just talk with each other regularly about five things. This makes me think that in almost any business meeting concerning a project or re­la­tion­ship, it’s a good idea to ask about those five things, with the acronym G-PP-AA:

1. Goals: What are we trying to achieve in this project or relationship, and why? [In some circumstances, Toyota’s famous Five Whys drill-down analysis might be helpful.]

2. Progress: What have we accomplished so far in achieving the goal(s)?

3. Problems encountered or anticipated: What if anything has gone wrong,and why? What could go wrong in the future? [The Five Whys might be helpful here, too.]

4. Action plans for the future: What is going to be done, by whom, when, to continue progress, and/or to address problems?

5. Assumptions: What are we implicitly or explicitly assuming, that might not be true?

This is just Management-101 stuff, to be sure. But it’s often over­looked, especially when things get busy or stressed.

That’s why, when I’m helping to negotiate contracts for on-going projects or re­la­tion­ships, I like to ask for a provision for periodic status-review con­fer­en­ces, with a reminder that these five G-PP-AA factors should be part of the agenda.

Here’s one version of such a contract provision, with extra para­graph­ing added for readability:

Notes:

• Some of this language isn’t strictly required, but is included to re­assure the parties that the provision isn’t going to be expensive or burdensome.  For example, under this language, if neither party ever asks for a status-review conference, none is required.  As another example, under clause 1, all conferences are by phone unless the parties agree otherwise.
• Clause 2 intentionally doesn’t require the G-PP-AA factors to be dis­cussed; the reminder of those factors should be helpful.
• Clause 4 provides for written minutes if requested. Meeting minutes can be especially important in documenting specific to-do as­sign­ments. Meet­ing minutes can can also help litigation counsel re­con­struct "what hap­pened, when, and why," if things go wrong.
• In clause 4, the term seasonably is taken from section 1-204 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which defines the term thusly: An action is taken "seasonably" when it is taken at or within the time agreed or if no time is agreed at or within a reasonable time.