The following text is taken from our ebook – 10 signs spreadsheets are killing your finance function:
#4 Amnesia
SYMPTOMS:
Last minute panic buying of birthday presents.
Missed gym appointments.
You hear ‘aren’t you meant to be somewhere else?’ more often than you’d like.
Family members leaving curt messages on your answerphone.
The school are calling to say your child should have been collected 45 minutes ago.
DIAGNOSIS:
Heads up! Shouldn’t you be at that anniversary dinner with your other half? You know, the one whose photo you look at on your desk each day.
When does the nativity play start finish? You planned to get that train home which might have just got you there on time, but….erm. You may as well stay and crack on. Your loved ones are the forgotten ones: it is lose-lose from here on in.
TREATMENT:
When you cannot afford to forget that all important appointment, wouldn’t it be helpful to ask a colleague to pick up where you left off?
The trouble is how do you collaborate on an impossible to hand over Spreadsheet Matrix? Its structure is entirely in your head and your head needs to be elsewhere. If you were working to a standard then you might have plenty of options.
Propose a quick handover and your colleague can hit the ground running. Plus the reduction in error rates achieved through using a standard may well mean that you can get away from the office on time and pick up tomorrow. Win-win.
