My Grandpa Nick was an excellent carpenter.  It was always a fun and learning moment to be “assigned” to help him build or repair some wooden project.  And just like so many great woodworkers…one of the regular sayings/words of advice were: “Measure Twice…Then Cut Once.”  This meant that before you cut a valuable piece of lumber, it was more than appropriate to take extra time and measure at least a couple of times before you grabbed the saw and cut.  Why?  Accuracy, no waste, efficient use of time and quality were all of the points that answer the WHY question.

Well, I think this approach to quality is an excellent way to ensure your COMMUNICATION practices are the very best they could be.  Think about it.  If you make it a professional habit to: “Listen or Read Twice…Then Speak/Email/Text ONCE!”, how clear, accurate, efficient and effective your messaging would be.  I do not believe it would take a great deal of more time and effort.  Instead by practicing to: “Listen or Read Twice…Then Speak/Email/Text ONCE!” you may find that you have avoided confusion, controversy and having to put together a ton of “re-do” messages to fix a poor piece of communication.

The “Listen or Read Twice…Then Speak/Email/Text ONCE!” strategy seems like an easy habit to employ.  But can we really do it?