Have you seen the scale they use to ask children what their pain level is? It starts with a very sad face and moves all the way up to a very happy face. They use this because it is very hard for children to express pain in a way that is helpful to a doctor in diagnosing what is going on with that child. I was thinking this morning that we need some of those for adults. Think how helpful it would be to find out some things about your co-worker before you go into a meeting with them. Here are a few suggestions

1. A bewildered scale. This could have faces from a totally confused to attentive. That way you could know ahead of time if you are going to have to repeat what you say or  if you will need to speak slower to help them understand.
2. A coffee consumed scale. I need this one. If you schedule a meeting before 9 am you better know how caffeinated the attendees are. Maybe the rating system could be a smaller cup up to a large big gulp mug.
3. A how close they are to vacation scale. This one would help to determine if they are really going to get done what you are asking of them. Let’s face it if they are close to vacation you are not getting your report. This could also serve as a close to retirement scale as well.
4. Age and number of children scale. This one goes along with the coffee scale, if they have a new baby or they have five children below the age of ten you might as well buy them the Big Gulp coffee mug because they are going to need it.