Communication and Deadlines
Communication is one of my bugbears. Deadlines are one of my nemeses.
If someone wants something done extra quickly, they need to tell me. I do not have a spare crystal ball to divine their requirements. (As I remember it, I flung my only one at a former boss, and being that I throw like a girl, it did not hit him full in the face as he richly deserved, but rather shattered against the wall above his right shoulder...) . So, one of the reviews I was going to share with you tonight is no more, as the deadline to write it expired without anyone telling me. Had the email I received told me that it was time sensitive, I would most likely have met the deadline. This vital piece of information was missing from the details.
COMMUNICATE ALREADY??? It's a wonderful thing, speech. As Professor Stephen Hawking would no doubt agree; 'It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking' (Pink Floyd: Keep Talking from 1994 release The Division Bell. YouTube link attached.)
At work, I am used to requesting my colleagues to do their best to have certain pieces of work back to me by a certain date and time. Generally they comply. In return, I too receive emails asking for certain tasks to be accomplished within a certain timeframe. Generally, I comply.
Communication, see? It works wonders.
What makes other people outside of work so sure I will know automatically?
I'd rather be told twice than not be told at all.
Do you find that people leave vital information out of emails, phone messages or instructions these days?
Image Credit » http://pixabay.com/en/man-working-what-to-do-311326/ Nemo on Pixabay, CC0 public domain image
Comments
Magnolia wrote on January 27, 2015, 5:16 PM
LOL I once told my boss I was a pro at reading minds, but his was a blank page.
WordChazer wrote on January 27, 2015, 5:25 PM
Cool! My boss was do self centred he would never have thought of that as being a put down and would probably have asked me for clarification.
GemOfAGirl wrote on January 29, 2015, 11:05 PM
I'm convinced that some people don't think that clocks apply to them. Last year, I had a day where I had a meeting scheduled with a client at 2pm, and another meeting scheduled with another client at 3pm, which should have been manageable. But the woman that was supposed to arrive at 2pm didn't show up until 2:45pm, and then she got mad at me when I suggested that she reschedule - I wasn't willing to make my 3 o'clock person wait an extra 45 minutes just because Miss 2pm showed up at a time when her meeting was supposed to be almost over. She complained to my manager, and then left in a huff when my manager stood up for me. I lost the client, but really, I didn't feel like I'd lost anything worth having. I was glad to let someone else deal with her.