confirm-verbal-agreement-in-writing

Confirm a verbal agreement in writing

A verbal agreement is a shared belief until it is written down. A five-line recap with an objection deadline converts it into a record that can be checked and, if needed, corrected before it hardens into work.

Procedure

1. In the same working session as the call, write what was agreed: deliverables, date, price, owner.

2. Keep it to five lines; a wall of prose does not get read and therefore does not get corrected.

3. State the silence rule explicitly: "if this is wrong, reply by <date>; otherwise I proceed as written."

4. Send it to the specific people who spoke, not to a crowd; agreement needs the deciders.

5. For high-stakes terms (irreversible action or external spend), ask for a one-word confirmation.

6. File the recap with the scope document and cite it as the record if a dispute starts.

7. If someone objects, restart at the scope agreement; do not patch the recap in place silently.

Pitfalls

• "Great, we're aligned" with nothing written, then two different memories of the call.

• A recap so long it invites edits to trivia and buries the real terms.

• No objection deadline, so silence never converts into agreement.

• Sending only to the requester when a second approver can veto later.

• Editing the original recap after the fact, destroying the record it was meant to be.

Verification

    grep -n 'reply by' recap.md   # a dated objection window exists

Report the agreed terms and the objection deadline you set.