Booklets - Respecting Others' Time - Part 2
While I didn't intend for there to be a theme in this week's blog posts, it turned out that way. Here are some real-life things that happened this week just in my immediate interactions with booklet authors. There is a thread here directly related to time. You'll see as you read it.
* A very busy person who was highly enthusiastic about participating in a Collection of Experts booklet was having great difficulty squeezing out what I knew would be a brief moment to complete the 275 words for the booklet page. It was a last-minute registration for the final page of the 14-person booklet to begin with and the person was looking at a very busy week. I sent numerous email and voicemail requests to the person within a short period of time since no reply was forthcoming. This ultimately diluted the person's original enthusiasm and probably put a bit of a strain on our new business relationship. The submission was finally received, the booklet manuscript went to the graphic designer, the proof is expected soon, and all 14 people in the booklet will have the completed PDF before the weekend. All I needed was a reply to know where we stood.
* A booklet author who is participating in a new project I'm starting was working on a request I made to submit a file and cover for the new project. I didn't realize the author was initially attempting to accomplish the technological part of this "in-house." Before receiving the file I was requesting, I had the opportunity to chat with the graphic designer who has also worked with this author, and requested the task be done by the graphic designer to streamline the process. Today I got an email from the booklet author who was quite annoyed at the time that was wasted attempting to do this "in-house" when I had already gotten the graphic designer to do it. All I needed to know was where we stood on this.
These are two examples of the importance of communication. By not communicating with those engaged in your work, there is the risk of time spent less productively than it could be, a ripple of lost time for other people involved in your process, and the potential to weaken otherwise valuable, important, and even enjoyable relationships.
Yes, some people can anticipate better than others, and ask better questions than others. And many booklet authors are quite used to working alone and making solo decisions and choices. However, do what you can to consider your colleagues and vendors who really are there to contribute to your success.
Thus the sermon has ended.
Until next time,
Paulette - whose relationship with time is frequently quite different than those around her
posted by Paulette Ensign @ 10:50 AM
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