50 Ways To Better Business: #42: That Nagging Feeling

The long awaited end of the day arrives and  you are ready to pack it in! You've been ready to call it a day since around 0-Dark-30. That's OK the time has come to go and there is no looking back or is there?

Just the other day, I left work and about halfway home I had this feeling overcome me. It was a feeling that I had something still left to do.  As I drove further and further away from the office the feeling remained. No matter what I did I could not shake it.  It was that nagging feeling that I completely overlooked something.

The rest of the evening was uneventful.  I slept like a baby yet there was still something in the back of my mind but it was quickly replaced by sleep.

When I woke up, it was there again.  Will there was damaging to do until I got to the office.  If that's what that nagging feeling was about it was going to have to wait until I got there.

I arrived, opened the office, turn on the lights, fired up the PC, poured myself a cup of coffee, and settled in to get the business day started.

Around 930 AM, I get a phone call.  It was someone I spoke to yesterday around midday.  They call to say they did not receive an e-mail I sent.  Strange, I know I wrote it, I know hit send, was this the nagging feeling?
So I started the e-mail program.  Once loaded, the inbox showed me notification of an undeliverable message.

It seems that I placed a comma instead of a period between the first name and the last name of the individual that I was sending the message to.

Well, long story short I corrected the problem and re-submitted the email.
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The moral of the story is simple: ATTENTION TO DETAIL will save the day!

If I had just looked at the email before I left work (one last time) I would have seen the error and addressed the issue right away instead of leaving someone hanging all day and night long. I could have also checked the email at home but typically I don't but the nagging feeling was there.  If and when that nagging feeling returns (and I am at home) I will listen to my gut and do what I can where I am. Who knows it might just salvage a contract?


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Until Tomorrow,
Dave Guerra
Rio Records Service, Inc. 

50 Ways To Better Business: #32: Avoid Unnecessary Miscommunication

Avoiding Unnecessary Miscommunication is something to not be taken lightly.

In these highly mobile days something can and most usually gets lost in the translation between the face-to-face discussion to email to text response.

Therefore, your organization, if it doesn't already, should have standard method of transmitting and the verification of any message(s).

I am not talking about using ciphers and codes found on an old World War II Enigma machine but what I am talking is will it be email only? fax only? phone only? video conference only?

No matter what it is it should be agreed that it will be the ONLY way to communicate when not face to face is not possible.

This is in an effort to cut down and possible altogether avoid any unnecessary miscommunication (realistically there will always be some form of miscommunication).


Until Tomorrow,
Dave Guerra
Rio Records Service, Inc.