Pages

Friday, July 19, 2013

Misunderstandings, corrections, and confirmations

I just had an interesting three hours of interactions of various kinds that revolved around misunderstandings.

First off, I booked tickets for my mom to the wrong city - big gaffe. I noticed it when I printed the itinerary for her, and thanks to a well-designed web site, was able to adjust very quickly. My mom now gets a business class seat on the way out - a nice perk, even if it will cost a little more.

I also had to redo a status report - twice - to ensure that it was accurate. The people who consume the report were straightforward in identifying the needed corrections, and I was quick to respond, which in part contributed to a second revision. but the information was quick and resending doesn't take long with email.

Next, at one of my favorite lunch joints, after repeating the type of dressing I wanted, I still got the wrong one, but my second favorite, so I didn't make a big deal out of it. If it had been a bigger issue, I could've corrected it before the first drop of dressing landed on my salad.

And lastly, my clients were rather confused about a training that I'll be offering. Now admittedly "One-oh-one" sounds very much like "one-on-one," so the mistake was easy to make. Again, the issue was resolved very quickly with a recognition and correction.

How many major issues could be resolved with less pain and fanfare when caught early, and resolved in a straightforward manner, with the recognition that people - myself included! - make mistakes!?