Last week I wrote about the personal value in closing loops; ie completing those smaller “ToDos”, and what it can do for your energy levels and sense of control over your (almost certainly) busy schedule.
But what about on the other side? What about the other people who are impacted by your work?
I originally started writing about closing loops to address this piece – the incredible value and speed that you can bring to a project simply by “closing the loop” on email exchanges. It sounds simple to the point of obvious, but there’s huge value to others in confirming receipt of email, voicemail, instruction or request. A simple “got it! Thanks.” response will take you 10 seconds and allows the other person to put the project/task out of their heads. I think there’s a common courtesy here that is so easy to do, and yet so easy not to do. I also appreciate that I have a heightened sensitivity to it, as the Actionable team is fully remote/virtual, meaning that “over-communication” is actually usually “appropriate communication” in such an environment. That said, this is really an act of kindness for any person – how many of us have sent emails into the proverbial “black hole”, never knowing where it ended up?
As a larger percentage of the global workforce moves to remote working conditions, it’s important for all of us to remember that there is another real, live, breathing (and stressing) human being on the other end of each email exchange. If we can make their lives a little easier – if we can help them close loops – in 10 seconds or less, I think it’s the least we can do.
We’re all experimenting; trying new things and entering into the unknown on a regular basis. It’s an engaging and challenging leading edge to be on. Let’s all make it a little easier on one another.
Side note – I’m running a free webinar next week for Consultants looking to dramatically grow their practices in the next 6 months. In the spirit of closing loops, I’d encourage you to register for it now, if you’re planning on joining us, so we can get an accurate sense of how many will be on the call. Click here to register.
