Communication is Key

I once ordered some school uniforms for Helen, and the website I ordered them from said that the processing time would be 5-6 days. At around 6 days I checked in on the progress of my order online and the status was still listed as “In Progress”. I gave it a few more days and then called the company to find out what was going on. I was told that the order had been held up because one of the items I bought was no longer available, and I would have to wait several months to receive it. When I told the customer service representative that I would at least like to receive the other items, she finally said she could go ahead and cancel the backordered item so that my order could finally begin to process. I was disappointed that no one had reached out to me before that to let me know about the issue. If I hadn’t called, I guess everything would still just be sitting there. Obviously, there is a failure in that company’s communication process.

As a landman, don’t let there be a failure in your communication process. If an assignment is more complicated (and will therefore take longer) than originally expected, let your manager know. Don’t wait until they contact you to find out why you haven’t turned it in yet. Be proactive and communicate, communicate, communicate.