Small mistakes with big consequences

It’s been an intense week. Your team is incredibly busy and moving at lightning speed. Perfect conditions for small mistakes that can have big consequences. In more than 20 years of consulting, I’ve seen some unfortunate errors. So today, I’m letting you in on a few little B&A secrets. These are 5 of the everyday rules my team lives by:

1. Never populate your To, Cc, or Bcc fields until your email is final, and you’ve re-read it. One accidental hit of a send button and off goes a half-baked message.
   
2. Before sending attachments, OPEN them, after attaching, to visually confirm you’ve got the right document. Trust me.
   
3. No matter how close you are to a deadline, always have work products reviewed for typos and feedback. I promise you, there is always a typo.
   
4. Before you hit send on an email containing sensitive information, carefully review the full names and email addresses of each recipient. Auto-populate spares no one!
   
5. Do not communicate while under the influence. Of anything. Not frustration, exhaustion, anger, or gin. Just. Wait.

And finally, if you find yourself on the receiving end of one of these errors, do not reply all. Inform the offender quickly and without an audience. We could all use a little grace from time to time.