Date Promised!

Now that spring is upon us, the flowers have bloomed and the grass has turned from a pale brown to a bright green. The new life that is breathed into the lawn has caused it to grow and with the birds chirping during the day and the crickets singing at night, there is also another songstress who is harping upon the changes in the season. That beautiful sweet sound would be the voice of my lovely wife with her friendly reminder to cut the grass!

I have now begun the process of getting ready to attack the lawn that has been in a 3-month slumber – 6 month cutting drought – and create a landscape that would make anyone proud. The yearly routine of preparing our lawn mower for the season has brought me to pen this blog entry. When I took my lawnmower to be serviced a few weeks back, it was my first time to use this vendor. I had taken my mower to another small engine service center, but was encouraged by a friend to try a new shop. When I arrived to this shop, I unloaded my mower and met with their front desk person about what I needed and what the return time would be. She politely told me that they were 2.5 weeks behind in schedule, but they would let me know if they were able to fix it sooner. I was pleasantly surprised that after just 3 days of being in service that I had my lawnmower back and ready for work!

Upon retrieving my mower from the lawn equipment store, I noticed unusual wording on the tag that accompanied it. On the top of the tag, above my personal and mechanical information, was a space for “Date Promised.” This small line caused me to think about my own brand of work with what and how I deliver. In my work, I can say that I return a product or an answer in a reasonable amount of time, but I cannot say that I have promised a result by a certain date. This has challenged me to think better of myself and create a consistent expectation for those I work for. I can make a difference by keeping myself accountable to those I work with and let them know that I mean what I say by what I promise I will do. One quick and useful way would be to attach a “Date Promised” tag to the end of my email signature. It is easy to get caught up in work and emails fall through the cracks all to often. If I were to create a phrasing at the end of my email, I could better manage the expectations of my colleagues and customers and also keep me accountable to do my best.

What about you? What other ideas can you share that would enforce a “Date Promised” mentality?