Why Double-Checking Your Work Is The Number One Skill
Even the tiniest mistake would cause business loss of revenue and give your colleague the impression of being sloppy.
It is easy to think that you’ve done a great job and underestimate the importance of slowing down and double-checking your work.
Take a look at this list of errors that we’ve all made sometime in our life.
- Not checking the grammar of your email or spell your colleague’s name wrong before sending.
- Replying all when you only need to address the email to one person.
- Not checking your project work several times before submitting to your boss for review.
- Not preparing a checklist for yourself and missed one thing or two.
The best advice I got from my boss and several mentors is to take a coffee break and come back and double even triple-checking my work.
No matter what type of job you do, the accuracy and the attention to details build up your credibility in your career. If you are someone who often rushes through assigned work and make mistakes on numbers or important facts, over the time your team will lose trust in you and you lose opportunities for promotions and bigger leadership role.
Take a look at the few tips here that will assist you in checking your work.
- Start with a checklist for your task. Write down the important dates, people’s names and facts and leave on your desk where it is easy to see. Whether you are using sticky notes or the Sticky Notes application on your Windows desktop, keeping the notes and constantly reviewing is beneficial.
- Proofreading, sentence by sentence. Don’t rely on auto spellcheck too much, take the time to proofread your writings.
- Ask for help. Don’t be scared to ask your senior colleagues around on the things that you need to pay extra attention to. It is always good to do it right the first time than spending time to fix it later.
Originally published at https://2minutesgrowth.com on January 14, 2021.
