How often in private practice and (indeed sometimes in house) as a professional do you get that last minute call or email at around 5pm on a Friday evening, just as you are starting to think about the weekend, that goes something along the following lines. “I am really sorry but I have to draft this complex agreement and I’ve been trying to get round to it all week but something always keeps coming up. Could you help me out here? Oh and by the way my business needs it by first thing Monday morning.”
And of course it’s an important client and so bang goes your Friday evening with your family or friends and maybe a substantial part of the weekend as well. By Monday morning you have delivered and the client is happy but you have created an unanticipated crisis on three other accounts and start the week rather jaded.
The scientist Bob Carter summed this problem up: “Poor planning on your part does not necessarily create an emergency on mine”.
But it does not have to be like this. The client could have anticipated the Friday challenge and instructed you on Wednesday or Thursday. And communications like Skype and IM give us the chance of instantaneous and informal communication. Why not encourage such clients to use these medium to at least alert you to the possibility of the urgent work, allowing it to be planned and executed in an organised way.
It’s far less risky to be prepared and not always working late to deal with a crisis which is not of your own making. I am not sure who it is attributable to, but the “5 P’s” sums this up – Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
But you have to be given the chance to benefit from proper planning in the first place, and not be forced into crisis mode by your client’s absence of organisation.
And of course it’s an important client and so bang goes your Friday evening with your family or friends and maybe a substantial part of the weekend as well. By Monday morning you have delivered and the client is happy but you have created an unanticipated crisis on three other accounts and start the week rather jaded.
The scientist Bob Carter summed this problem up: “Poor planning on your part does not necessarily create an emergency on mine”.
But it does not have to be like this. The client could have anticipated the Friday challenge and instructed you on Wednesday or Thursday. And communications like Skype and IM give us the chance of instantaneous and informal communication. Why not encourage such clients to use these medium to at least alert you to the possibility of the urgent work, allowing it to be planned and executed in an organised way.
It’s far less risky to be prepared and not always working late to deal with a crisis which is not of your own making. I am not sure who it is attributable to, but the “5 P’s” sums this up – Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
But you have to be given the chance to benefit from proper planning in the first place, and not be forced into crisis mode by your client’s absence of organisation.
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