So I was talking to my boss last night. It was a simple request. Pick a fellow employee up at the air port and drive him to the office. We hung up, click, I headed to my room. But then on a turn around I realized my boss never gave me the time that this employee was coming in. 

Now at our office there is a flight coordinator. Her job is specially detailed to keep track of incoming and outgoing employees. The task was easy to ask her when was this employee coming in and where. The answer was 4 P.M on such and such airlines. 

Great! I thought. I could sleep in a little bit before waking up to go get him. Things were going great. Just the day before I had goldstreaked an item to my boss back at home, had replaced a lithium battery, and got the gear ready for the employee coming in to take over. After forty-two days, I was getting relieved.

Communicating Effectively is Working Effectively

I get up at 11 A.M. to someone knocking on my door. Having opened it I found my boss wanted me to call him and upon calling him I realized the time flight was wrong he was coming in at 8 A.M. and I had missed him completely and now he was on a bus. Off he goes, without any of the gear I had prepared him. 

There was no call to the office here. 

There no mention of this 8 A.M flight.

Yet, when I talked to the flight coordinator she said I had not mentioned the employee’s name, so she had given MY flight back to home. I am not going to go in a he said or she said mantra, alas the fact remains, communication needs to be there.

If this had been lined out before me, the important details of it, or if I had been a little less trusting and had decided to get a second opinion on this flight, not only would had saved me from this hassle, but also save the company time.

Communicating Effectively is Working Effectively

How though?

How can we communicate effectively? There are several things that can be done. First of all though something must change with yourself. As with all new things it has to become a habit, which only form with discipline (Or lack of discipline depending on the habit…). 

Everyday write on your board, get post-it-notes, write in your journal, anywhere that you’ll see it and see it often: Today I will communicate effectively.

Seeing is believing.

But what are somethings I can do?!

Calm down.

I’m about to tell you.

One if you’re a manager it is specially important that you tell your employees everything they need to know to succeed effectively. Cause if they’re like most employees, they probably don’t enjoy asking their manager many questions. 

Somethings you can add to your checklist depending on the task:

Time- How much time will it take? At what time is it occurring? (What time am I picking him up?! Gr!)

Equipment- What will they need to complete this task? A truck? Steel pipes? Tools? Paperwork? What do they need to bring to the table? This will save you an incredible amount of time.

Confirmation- Ask your employee whether or not they understand. Or even have them repeat it back to you. It’s not an insult to your employee, it is making sure things are being managed effectively.  And that is the most important thing for any business to accomplish.

We’re just too busy!!!

Stop.

No one is too busy to stand back for a mere fifteen minutes and analyze what they are doing and how they can do it better. These are general tips that need to be filled in based on your own needs. And unless your business is booming crazy, it is very likely that the reason why you’re so busy is cause you’re not doing things as effectively as you could.

Take a breather.

Relax.

Communicate effectively.

It will save you time. It will save you money.

But most of all, it will save employee embarrassment. (My cheeks were a little red this morning I admit!)

Now get out of here! Be effective!