If when you have an appointment with someone and you arrive on time just to be told they will be ‘down in five minutes’ – do you take that to mean 300 seconds or ‘I’ll be there when I get around to it, may be anything upto half an hour’?
Why do busy people refuse to tell the truth to people they make arrangements with? Why can’t you say – ‘I know you’re here to meet me now but I really need to finish this email first, I’ll be with you as soon as I can’ or even ‘I can’t be bothered with you, I’ll swing by after I’ve had a coffee but only if I don’t get distracted by something shiney’ also works – at least it’s the truth.
Yes, it’s been that type of week.
If you’re always late for the weekly X meeting, the one that’s in the same place at the same time each week, maybe it’s time to think about how much importance you place on that meeting, if you really don’t care about it – and believe me, you actions show the rest of the team that you really don’t – then maybe it’s time to think about why you attend? Is it just an ego trip? Do you enjoy keeping people waiting for you? Do you really want to be that person?
Do you?
And if you’re trying to imply that you’re amazingly busy by always beening late for everything that doesn’t work either, the people you keep waiting just assume you’re late because you’re hopeless at telling the time and motivting yourself to get out of bed, they never ever spend the time you have wasted for them by keeping them waiting by imaging you’re doing something more worthwhile.
So why are people late? Maybe it’s time to face the harsh reality – you are not superman. You can not do it all, something will slip – and do you really want your reputation with your fellows to be that something?
Take a look at your life, the people that you inconvenience have lives to – just because they don’t make you suffer doesn’t mean their schedule is less important, it just shows that they repect you – for the time being.
Just think about it.
If you’re sitting there thinking that you’ve never met anyone like this, then it’s you. So now what? Either start communicating with people – tell them as soon as you know you’re going to be late so they can regain that time they might have wasted waiting for you and to prevent damage to your reputation – or tackle the underlying problem – why are you always late? Do you really get engrossed in everything you do and lose track of time or do you really not care about getting to some places? If you don’t care, cut them out of your life.
You’re the only one that can work this one out I’m afraid.
And in the mean tine, if you want me, I’ll be over there getting on with my life, call me when you’re ready to have our meeting but don’t be supprised when I leave on time to make my next appointment after only getting though half of your agenda.
As you scamper your merry way over the playgrounds of the internet you will accumulate logins to various locations – forums, shopping sites, services – in return the companies that run the sites get your email address and a few bits and bobs about you.
This is like crack to them.
If you manage to toggle the obligatory “tick me if you do want to not get the occasional newsletter” check box correctly at the bottom of the form you may never hear from them again. Well done. But sometiems you DO want to recieve their newsletter.
I have no problem with companies I like having my details, I appreciate Firebox emailing me new and shiny things and the day just would not be complete without my Daily Dilbert (tell me I’m not the only one who is convinced Scott Adams hides in the cupboard in my office and then draws what happened yesterday for today?).
But what really frustrates me is when these companies don’t make sensible – or any – use of the data they have on me.
A number of companies have my birth date – but only a small percentage of shopping sites email me congratulations and tempting me with the chance of buying myself a present.
Why? It is NOT hard to use data intelligently and treat it as information.
My day-to-day world revolves around a rather excellent Document Management and Collaboration System (http://www.unit4collaborationsoftware.com), I deal with data and information day in and day out and I’m afraid it has become one of my passions – it may help if you imagine me climbing onto my soap box round about now.
Data and information are different things. Data is pointless without context, once you give it a context and actually DO something with it it becomes information, and informaiton is power. What these companies have on us is data, but if they spent even a little time looking at it they could turn it into information that would become extreamly powerful. For example, a shopping website knows that you always send a package to a Mr X around the middle of January and you always use express delivery – how many years in a row would you have to do this before they worked out that you always manage to forget your second-cousin’s birthday until the last minute? If that company emailed you to remind you wouldn’t you feel some loyalty towards them, some warmth that for once, this year your Great Aunt Nora wont tut at you for forgetting her beloved darling’s birthday?
Let me put it another way – Information is where the money is. Conversly, mis-use of data, or the lack of translating data into information can cause a company to lose money and/or potential revenue – and even worse, it may even lose it its reputation.
What kicked all of this off? I’m glad you asked… A few days ago I received an email – a ‘special offer’ – from a company that I had signed up with over a year and a half ago. This email made me hopping mad at the complete disregard for the informaiton they held on me. It would have been so simple for them to realise that the mail shot they sent me was wholly inappropriate on many many levels but did they? No, they went ahead and because of this carelessness and lack of attend to the big picture they not only do they made themselves look stupid but damaged the reputation of the company they were promoting.
I received an email from hitched.co.uk offering me £200 off a wedding dress.
Slightly peculiar but innocent enough you may think – no, not when you consider that when signing up for hitched.co.uk they ask you for the prospective date of your wedding – as far as hitched.co.uk are concerned I am already married.
What type of company sends offers for wedding dresses to respectably married woman!?
And if on the off chance – as in my case – the recipient turned out to not be married in the end, wouldn’t you think that sending such an offer – complete with imagery of smiling, supposedly happy brides – to someone who thought they would get married but then didn’t wasn’t entirely tactful?
Companies out there I beg of you, use your data sensibly – is really isn’t hard to prevent issues like this occurring if you just look at the data you have about your customer base and by applying a little bit of logic, turn that into useful information. Information that if used correctly may just save you from losing customers.
This is like crack to them.
If you manage to toggle the obligatory “tick me if you do want to not get the occasional newsletter” check box correctly at the bottom of the form you may never hear from them again. Well done. But sometimes you DO want to receive their newsletter.
I have no problem with companies I like having my details, I appreciate Firebox emailing me new and shiny things and the day just would not be complete without my Daily Dilbert (tell me I’m not the only one who is convinced Scott Adams hides in the cupboard in my office and then draws what happened yesterday for today?).
But what really frustrates me is when these companies don’t make sensible – or any – use of the data they have on me.
A number of companies have my birth date – but only a small percentage of shopping sites email me congratulations and tempting me with the chance of buying myself a present.
Why? It is NOT hard to use data intelligently and treat it as information.
My day-to-day world revolves around a rather excellent Document Management and Collaboration System (http://www.unit4collaboration.com), I deal with data and information day in and day out and I’m afraid it has become one of my passions – it may help if you imagine me climbing onto my soap box round about now.
Data and information are different things. Data is pointless without context, once you give it a context and actually DO something with it it becomes information, and informaiton is power. What these companies have on us is data, but if they spent even a little time looking at it they could turn it into information that would become extremely powerful. For example, a shopping website knows that you always send a package to a Mr X around the middle of January and you always use express delivery – how many years in a row would you have to do this before they worked out that you always manage to forget your second-cousin’s birthday until the last minute? If that company emailed you to remind you wouldn’t you feel some loyalty towards them, some warmth that for once, this year your Great Aunt Nora wont tut at you for forgetting her beloved darling’s birthday?
Let me put it another way – Information is where the money is. Conversely, mis-use of data, or the lack of translating data into information can cause a company to lose money and/or potential revenue – and even worse, it may even lose it its reputation.
What kicked all of this off? I’m glad you asked… A few days ago I received an email – a ‘special offer’ – from a company that I had signed up with over a year and a half ago. This email made me hopping mad at the complete disregard for the information they held on me. It would have been so simple for them to realise that the mail shot they sent me was wholly inappropriate on many many levels but did they? No, they went ahead and because of this carelessness and lack of attend to the big picture they not only do they made themselves look stupid but damaged the reputation of the company they were promoting.
I received an email from hitched.co.uk offering me £200 off a wedding dress.
Slightly peculiar but innocent enough you may think – no, not when you consider that when signing up for hitched.co.uk they ask you for the prospective date of your wedding – as far as hitched.co.uk are concerned I am already married.
What type of company sends offers for wedding dresses to respectably married woman!?
And if on the off chance – as in my case – the recipient turned out to not be married in the end, wouldn’t you think that sending such an offer – complete with imagery of smiling, supposedly happy brides – to someone who thought they would get married but then didn’t wasn’t entirely tactful?
Companies out there I beg of you, use your data sensibly – is really isn’t hard to prevent issues like this occurring if you just look at the data you have about your customer base and by applying a little bit of logic, turn that into useful information. Information that if used correctly may just save you from losing customers.
Well my fellow geeks – are you ready for Christmas?
No, I ‘m not refering to your shopping and cooking lists or even if you’ve wrapped everything – I’m talking about your mental preperation.
Yes, it’s the time of year where most of you will be “going home” to your beloved but perhaps not-as-tech-savy-as-you families.
You KNOW what that means don’t you? Oooh yes, time to become the 24-7 100% tech-support go-to guy or gal once moce.
Time for a deep breath.
You know the scene, Uncle Fred has bought little Sabastian the latest electronic do-hicky with bells, whistls, spinny bit and of course the requisit annoying electronic beep, and the only person in the house that will have an electronic screwdriver small enough to open the battery hatch is you – so that’s chrismtas morning 6am to 6:25am dealt with.
Then your mother wont be able to open the plastic packageing for her new suduko machine that father bought her after consulting you last week on your mobile – in the middle of a meeting with the seniour management at work, who also all had to break off to have similar convisations with their own elderly family members.
This also needs batteries inserted behind a little door held on with a little small screw. Which you have trouble dealing with as by this time you’ve cut your own finger on the evil-plastic-attack packaging.
Aunt Mable is now blaming you – and the sole representitive of the ‘technical’ industry for the annoying sounds coming from little Sabastian’s electronic do-hicky – a tirade that will only get worse as the sherry supply depleats.
9am and the phone goes, nephew 1 has got a tamagotchi for christmas – yes they still exist – and he can’t work out how to feed it. Luckily as a child of the 80s/90s you manage to tech-support this over the phone.
Time for a quck cuppa before dashing off to church, surely there wont be any technology to get in the way of some good solid carol singing? Ha!
On the way out the vicar shakes your hand and mentions that the church’s website needs some TLC and gosh darnnit isn’t that something you could perhaps help with in the new year?
Back home and you’ve bearly pulled off your new christmas gloves with the pom-poms on that great aunt florrance sent you before mother thrusts you the brand you oven timer and asks you to set it for 40 mins rather than 40 seconds.
And so it goes on…
But my dear breathren-in-tech, don’t dispare, take heart – as the sole techie you will get to play with everyone’s brand new technology over the Christmas period – and if that doesn’t colsole you, at least you know you’ll have a few days break before the family go out and buy things in the january sales!
Don’t roll your eyes at your less-able relations dear geek, be patient with them – to them all these things with buttons are a dark art and to them you apear as a worlock of great power, being able to command them to do your will… apart from getting that new toy of sabastian’s to shut up. That is a feat that’s even beyond you.
Merry Christmas one and all
Love Amy xxx
No, I ‘m not refering to your shopping and cooking lists or even if you’ve wrapped everything – I’m talking about your mental preperation.
Yes, it’s the time of year where most of you will be “going home” to your beloved but perhaps not-as-tech-savy-as-you families.
You KNOW what that means don’t you? Oooh yes, time to become the 24-7 100% tech-support go-to guy or gal once moce.
Time for a deep breath. You can do this.
You know the scene, Christmas Morning. Uncle Fred has bought little Sabastian the latest electronic do-hicky with bells, whistls, spinny bit and of course the requisit annoying electronic beep, and the only person in the house that will have an electronic screwdriver small enough to open the battery hatch is you – so that’s Christmas morning 6am to 6:25am dealt with.
Then your mother wont be able to open the plastic packageing for her new suduko machine that father bought her after consulting you last week on your mobile – in the middle of a meeting with the development team at work, who also all had to break off to have similar convisations with their own elderly family members.
This also needs batteries inserted behind a little door held on with a little small screw. Which you have trouble dealing with as by this time you’ve cut your own finger on the evil-plastic-attack packaging.
Aunt Mable is now blaming you – and the sole representative of the ‘technical’ industry for the annoying sounds coming from little Sebastian’s electronic do-hicky – a tirade that will only get worse as the sherry supply depleats.
9am and the phone goes, nephew 1 has got a tamagotchi for christmas – yes they still exist – and he can’t work out how to feed it. Luckily as a child of the 80s/90s you manage to tech-support this over the phone for a device you’ve never seen or used. You are just THAT good.
Time for a quck cuppa before dashing off to church, surely there wont be any technology to get in the way of some good solid carol singing? Ha!
On the way out the vicar shakes your hand and mentions that the church’s website needs some TLC and gosh darnnit isn’t that something you could perhaps help with in the new year?
Back home and you’ve bearly pulled off your new Christmas gloves with the pom-poms on that Great Aunt Florrance sent once again this year you before mother thrusts you the brand you oven timer and asks you to set it for 40 mins rather than 40 seconds.
And so it goes on…
But my dear breathren-in-tech, don’t dispare, take heart – as the sole techie you will get to play with everyone’s brand new technology over the Christmas period – and if that doesn’t console you, at least you know you’ll have a few days break before the family goes out and buys the latest gadgets in the January sales and calls you to set them up!
Don’t roll your eyes at your less-able relations dear geek, be patient with them – to them all these things with buttons are a dark art and to them you apear as a worlock of great power, being able to command them to do your will… apart from getting that new toy of Sabastian’s to shut up. That is a feat that’s even beyond you.
“It makes my eyes hurt, but this is what the client wants”
This plaintiff cry was heard drifting over the office from the front end team last week. Nothing that unusual about that – they are not the most reticent of teams at Collaboration Towers, but it was the content of the cry as well as the resigned and world weary tone that irked me.
If the idea / request – in this case an interface design for a web app – is that bad, should we really agree with the customer and tell let them continue in the belief that they are right?
Where, in fact, do you draw the line between providing service and being a glorified automotron?
A large part of me thinks that these people – clients – are paying us for our expertise and our experience – shouldn’t we then give them the benefit of that experience? Are we doing a bad job but actually doing what the client would think of as a good job?
We should respect our clients enough to treat them like adults rather than toddlers who will throw a tantrum if their every mad whim is not served immediately – surely this is the different between employing a code monkey and a true craftsman?
Would you draw a circuit diagram and tell an electrician to wire you your house using this self-drawn circuit diagram?
ok, bad example – a lot of you would be capable of this without causing your house to burn down in an electrical fire but go with the metaphore people!
If you don’t want to do it for the client, do it for yourself – do you really want to be the person that has to always explain the lemon in your portfolio as “This wouldn’t be how I would have done it, but this is what the client wanted” with a shrug of the shoulders? How do you think that makes you look – does it make you look like you care about your client’s user experience?
The client almost always had the right idea for their particular problem – and lets face it, they (hopefully) know their industry / team / department / space better than you do – but the nuts and bolts of the implementation and execution should be left to the experts – that’s they pay you for.
Please – don’t let your clients accept sub-standard implementations
As those of you who have been on the receiving end of one of my house-buying rants will know, I will (hopefully) soon be moving house. In preparation of this I am processing, filing and packing everything single thing I own – a life times worth of… stuff. It’s both theriputic, nostalgic, dusting and tiring.
Do I keep my boomerang that I bought in a boomerang shop in Kings Cross in Sydney? Yes, I think so. What about my rather nice personalised leather pencil pouch from school that I probiably wont use again as it has cats on it? Not sure… The book of stickers from primary school – bin.
But my biggest pain at the moment? I’ve packed away my computer stuff* apart from the very essentials. I currently have no way to get photos off my camera and onto my computer – all the things that I care about that I’ve packed carefully away are not causing me as much pain as that one small USB cable. The silver teapot I got for my 18th birthday? Been in a box for 3 weeks already and I’m fine without it. My crocket hooks – well I do get fidgety with no work to pick up and do but I’m coping, even my DVDs have been packed for three weeks. But not being able to get at my photos locked in my camera! Agony!
