Throughout my life, wise people seemed to all have the same advice for me no matter what field I worked in. “Take good notes!” It seems easy enough and I think most of us would agree that it is good advice. But many of us (including myself) get busy and do not make this the priority that it should be. So what suffers when we fail to document? Does it matter in 2019?
I recently had some issues with a hosting company and called customer service to get help. I chose this particular vendor because I had heard that they had good reviews. The representative was courteous and tried to help but soon realized that my issue would require a higher level of support. I was told that a member of the upper tier team would be contacting me shortly about a resolution. After 3 days and 6 total hours on phone calls, the issue was finally resolved!
So what took the team so long? Was it that big of an issue that it took 3 days to work out? One word – Communication. Over the 3 days, I spoke with 6 different representatives. I had to explain my issue to each one as if for the first time. I asked the reps if they were making good notes. Each one said, “of course!” With each new person I spoke with, they commented that only a few notes were recorded in their system. What?! By the last call, I am sure that I had become a household name and, thank heavens, the issue was resolved. But they nearly lost a customer simply due to a lack of note taking.
I know this is a simple case. No lives were at stake. But how many scenarios can you think of when taking good notes could have saved a company or a person time, prevented a failure of equipment, or maybe even prevented injury.
Shift work is a good example where good note taking can be vital to the success or failure of a team. At LogBook, our team is dedicated to providing an easy to use platform for teams in multiple industries to input and store notes that result in a safer, more efficient, and more profitable environment.
Learn how your organization could benefit from LogBook at trylogbook.com